


Neon Devils

by WhatTheMillennial



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: AU, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, Gun Violence, Human AU, It's a kill or kiss world out there, Murder, PTSD, Rating has changed to Explicit, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-11
Updated: 2018-11-09
Packaged: 2018-11-30 14:55:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 67,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11465931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhatTheMillennial/pseuds/WhatTheMillennial
Summary: A bad break up leaves Peridot to lurch herself into a decision she cannot unmake. Money and anonymous faces are enough to gamble; but with lives on the line and 48 hours on the clock, it's going to take more than unsubscribing to rectify somebody else's mistakes.





	1. I'm a (Liability)

**Author's Note:**

> This story have been in progress for a couple of weeks now, and I'm happy that I get to share it with you all. 
> 
> If you have any questions, or want to follow me, check out my tumblr @ https://whatthemillennial.tumblr.com/ 
> 
> EDIT; This story was originally posted on FanFiction.Net 
> 
> Love, Betty.

[PRESS PLAY ](https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwjEh9z3goDVAhVII8AKHWi5CD4QyCkIJTAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DBtvJaNeELic&usg=AFQjCNEVIdTH4e4Ebm0ykQo1feAVm5gyQA)

 

HELLO :)

YOU HAVE ENTERED NEON DEVILS

WELCOME PERIDOT

YOUR NEW USERNAME IS PERI_800, THIS USERNAME CANNOT BE CHANGED

CLICK ‘AGREE’ TO PLAY NEON DEVILS

WARNING: NEON DEVILS REFUSES TO TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY OF USER DISSATISFACTION. ALL USERS MUST BE OVER 18 YEARS TO PLAY

DO YOU WISH TO CONTINUE?

The dark studio space is lit in city lights, the glow of her mobile screen illuminates the smooth features of her face. Peridot lowers it momentarily and thinks about Amethyst’s bragging, talking about one of her faceless friends who had joined the crazy fad online game a few days ago. She thinks about how they had also broken up less than five hours prior, the tear stains on her cheeks still fresh and the need to do something reckless bubbling over fit to burst. That’s what people did when they got dumped, right? Reckless things?

Sucking her bottom lip into her mouth, Peridot turns her attention back to the illegal website and presses the screen without another thought.

YOU HAVE CHOSEN TO PLAY NEON DEVILS

YOU WILL RECEIVE A TEXT WHEN YOU ARE ASSIGNED YOUR PARTNER

HAPPY PLAYING :)

Peridot nearly jumps out of her skin when the screen goes blank, and a cartoon cat singing to Tom Jones _‘what’s new pussycat’_ popped up seconds later.

‘What the fuck…?’

Peridot feels confused, was this some sort of waiting game? Maybe signing up had been a mistake, even if she has used a different email account. She heaves air into her lungs to exhale loudly and toss her phone to the end of her bed. She stares up to the loft ceiling, adored in fake glow stars. It had been the mission to get them up there, the studio space she owed was once a manufacturing room and the ceiling with thick beam structure looms high above. A fond memory shimmers in Peridot’s mind as she stares at those stars, so comforting.

_She’s on a ladder, borrowed on a special favour from Greg. Peridot wobbles on it and tries to catch the stars Amethyst throws up at her._

_‘You got it babe! Nearly 100 stars, man! I wish I had some of that interior determination of yours.’_

_Huffing in the effort to stretch and stick on the plastic novelties that they’d bought in bags and bags, Peridot tries not to let herself look down at the height she’s at to sneer down at her girlfriend. She hates climbing things._

_‘Well seeing as this is the only place within my budget, the stars are a necessity! I refuse to live in Area Creepy One!’_

Amethyst had laughed at her, and christened her home with Peridot’s play on words. From where she lies, Peridot can see the mini mural that read _Area Creepy 1_ in electric magenta spray paint next to the kitchenette. Heartstrings tugged when she sees the signature puma paw under the bold font in neon blue.

Turning over to the right side of the bed, it vanishes from view. Peridot decides she’ll have to paint over it… at some point. For now it can stay, just in case.

Peridot closes her eyes and chooses to concentrate on the sounds of Empire City. It’s always loud, especially in her location where all the indie clubs roar, and the booming of the subway thundering over her head every 20 minutes. It’s Friday, and Friday’s always seem louder than usual. But Peridot decides this is okay, she doesn’t want to think, doesn’t want to dream. She doesn’t want to sleep either.

Blinking her eyes open she sits up and looks all around her. The place is going to look pretty sparse when Amethyst comes to collect her things, all thrown around. Maybe that will be decidedly better, more room for Peridot’s science projects and her piano which is squashed in the back of her space.

A part of Peridot knows she’ll be lost without Amethyst. Pieces of her will vanish when Amethyst’s belongings are removed.

Midnight tears prick up in her eyes, and Peridot has been expecting them. She lets them fall and crashes softly back onto the mattress, all of the sheets stripped away that smell like Amethyst.

Peridot simply listens to the downstairs club that drones a Lorde track.

She hates Lorde.


	2. Ain't It Fun?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've decided to go ahead and post the first three chapters, just to get things rolling! After that I'll be updating every Friday night 
> 
> If you have any questions, ask me over @ https://whatthemillennial.tumblr.com/ 
> 
> Love, Betty

[PRESS PLAY](https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwjAt7iahoDVAhWpIcAKHaGVCy8QyCkIJTAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DEFEmTsfFL5A&usg=AFQjCNHfNes5fEcmuh6QFXTiN3Ii8poIag) [ ](https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwjAt7iahoDVAhWpIcAKHaGVCy8QyCkIJTAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DEFEmTsfFL5A&usg=AFQjCNHfNes5fEcmuh6QFXTiN3Ii8poIag)

**BANG BANG BANG!**

Peridot bolts upright to the sound of the metal of her front door being rapped on, and with slight disorientation stumbles to stand, calling out.

‘I’m coming, coming!’

She slides on her glasses from the nightstand and makes her way over to the entrance of her home. Tugging the door open, she realises she left it unlocked again.

Fuck sake.

To her surprise, before her stands Pearl and Garnet, Amethyst’s long-term friends. They are holding lots of folded cardboard boxes, Starbucks coffee, and trying to smile through obvious discomfort. Peridot squints at them, taken aback.

‘Good morning, Peridot!’

‘Howdy.’

Peridot stares at them blankly and tries to figure out what time it is. She studies the boxes, terse expressions and her insides clench horribly. Fucking Amethyst. Peridot snatches the coffee that Pearl extends to her and moves to allow them entry.

‘All her shit is either on the floor or purple and pink. Just hurry it up, I have stuff to do.’

Pearl and Garnet share a concerned look, but they do not question Peridot’s statement and enter the studio to begin collecting Amethyst’s belongings. Peridot watches them from the doorway with a critical eye, and Pearl notices her staring. She looks nervous but tries to start a conversation all the same.

‘So, Peridot? How are you doing?’

Peridot wants to sneer at her. Pearl is prim and proper in appearance, as is her personality. Peridot dislikes the way the question is asked in such a sensitive tone. Pearl is anything but sensitive.

‘Why are you here so early in the morning?’

‘Oh! We’re sorry about that,’ she doesn’t sound sorry at all, ‘but Amethyst requested us to do this as soon as possible, I haven’t the faintest why.’

Pearl simpers a little and continues to pick up clothes from the floor, avoiding looking in Peridot’s direction. Peridot feels her throat close up and the tears threaten to fall again. Did Amethyst not even wish to take a few days to lick her wounds and _then_ come to collect her things personally? Did Amethyst really value their relationship so little? 

Peridot walks a circle around the tense situation that almost feels like a home invasion. She can tell she’s making Pearl uncomfortable, as every step she takes, Pearl takes two back with her blushing face turned away. Garnet glances up over her shades and suddenly stops to straighten up, smiling gently.

‘How _are_ you doing, Peridot?’

Peridot wants to glare at her, how does she think she’s doing?! Peridot is a heartbroken mess.

She shrugs, ‘I’ve been better.’  

Garnet nods, but not with understanding. Peridot studies her a little, she’s never been really able to read Garnet very well. She’s an Amazonian of a woman; cool and aloof. Peridot knows Amethyst thinks highly of Garnet, and for a while when they first got together, Peridot was jealous of that.

‘I’m sorry about all this, it being 6 am. Amethyst asked me to tell you she couldn’t do this herself.’ 

Peridot huffs, unimpressed and it still feels like she’s being strangled. There is a pregnant pause as the thundering of the subway rushes above them; Peridot’s usual alarm clock.

‘I’m not a fool, I can tell this is hurting me more than it is her.’ 

‘That’s not true, and you know that.’

‘Oh yeah? Then why didn’t she give me the damn decency to come and face me herself! She’s not allowed to let me love her for three years and then tell me she wants to leave!’

Garnet sighs, something Peridot rarely hears her do. She slips off her shade, another rarity to expose her mismatched eyes. One blue, the other a reddish amber.

‘If you knew Amethyst like I know you do, you know she acts in haste and moves quickly, despite her feelings. She deals with these things like-‘

‘-self sabotage. I know how Amethyst works.’

Garnet loses her smile, but her gaze is soft and sympathetic. Peridot shakes of her gaze and takes another sip of her latte, not sweet enough for her liking, and she heads to the kitchenette to find the sugar.

Pearl and Garnet seem to have finished up behind her, but when she turns her eye catches Pearl walking towards where the screen separates her bed from the rest of the spacey loft. She seems to be looking for something, and Peridot starts on her the second Pearls hand reaches for the bedside table.

‘Hey! I’ve let you take Amethyst’s stuff, mine is off limits!’

Pear jumps and tries to smile reassuringly.

‘I’m doing just that! Amethyst wanted the necklace with her namesake gemstone,’ Pearl points to the trinket that lies next to a Camp Pining Hearts mug and a green notebook. It’s a beautiful amethyst stone hanging on a silver necklace, and Peridot moves faster across the room to make a grab for it, making Pearl flinch and step back.

‘Not this. This is mine.’

Pearl loses her kindly looking expression and straightens up to her full height, towering above Peridot and takes ones step forward, wiry thin hand out-stretched.

‘Now Peridot, please be reasonable. That necklace is very important to Amethyst, and I’m going to have to ask you to hand it over.’

Peridot snickers at her, the necklace tight in her grip. She can see how Garnet watches when warily, but Peridot doesn’t want to fight Pearl. She just wants them to leave.

‘No. You’ve already taken what you came for, this is mine and I want you to leave now.’

Pearl remains indignant and stands her ground, she is as stubborn as Peridot, eyebrows furrowed in her irritation.  

‘We’re not leaving without that necklace, it belongs to Amethyst!’

‘What are you going to do? Fight me for it?’

‘You’re as immature as Amethyst, you know that? Just give me the necklace, for goodness sake!’

Pearl makes the mistake of trying to make a grab for the gemstone peeking out from Peridot’s fist, yelping when her hand is slapped away by striking fingers. Peridot backs up to jump on her bed and sticks her tongue out at Pearl childishly.  Peridot is sure Pearl would have jumped up right after her if Garnet didn’t intervene that very second.

‘Pearl, let it go,’ she says coolly, ‘if it’s so important to Amethyst then she can come collect it another time. We’ve bothered Peridot enough, we should go.’

Garnet glances up to Peridot knowingly, one hand on Pearl’s thin shoulder to restrain her. Peridot gives a small nod of thanks, quickly diverting her eyes and hunching up her shoulders when she crosses her arms, suddenly feeling quite exposed in her tiny crop top and alien shorts.

She watches Garnet lead Pearl out of the apartment with Amethyst’s belongings, and when the door closes Peridot can hear Pearl start an argument involving various insults directed at Peridot, until quickly their voices fade to nothing down the halls.

Peridot stands on top of her bed for a few more minutes and let’s herself take in her newly cleared home. It feels even emptier than before; Amethyst’s guitar now missing from its home next to the piano. The chest Peridot had bought at a vintage store to keep Amethyst’s spare clothes in was empty, and the vanity where her lavender hair dye and neon cosmetics once lay were gone. They’d even taken her age old boom box where she and Amethyst had played old cassettes til dawn.

Peridot trembles slightly, tears welling up again. The necklace is rough against her skin as she holds it tightly, threating to leave red marks. Her toes scarcely touch the cold wood of her floor when the tinkling of her phone plays, alerting her that she has a text message.

Peridot searches for her phone briefly, stuck between the mattress and her pillows, and slides it open to read the message. 

Unknown Number:

HELLO PERI_800 :)

YOU HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED YOUR PARTNER

YOUR PARTNER IS L_008

MEET L_008 BY 20ND ST DOWNTOWN, 19:00

YOUR CHALLENGE WILL BEGIN 10 MINUTES AFTER MEETING

HAPPY PLAYING :)

Peridot blinks a few times and re-reads the message twice. She’s completely forgotten about Neon Devils, wondering if she had just dreamt up joining the dark game site. Now she thinks more clearly about it, maybe this isn’t such a good idea. There have been rumours on the dangerous lengths people have gone to complete the nightly adventure, reports on the news every now and again. 

Peridot purses her lips. Plugging her phone in to charge, she starts to collect up her old sheets and is determined to carry on with her day as normal. She will go grocery shopping, buy lunch, come home, cry again, and she’s sure to forget all about her silly association with a sketchy website.  

***

The day passes like it usually does on a Saturday. Peridot decides to treat herself now she doesn’t have her girlfriend to feed, and heads up to the Salt Water Marketplace to buy her groceries. It’s a beautiful summer’s day, and it’s bright and warm when she walks through the glossy shopping centre. It’s especially busy today, full of people of all walks of life to enjoy the day among the expensive retailers, food stands, water attractions and indoor palm trees. 

At 2 PM she calls Yelena and Blair, the Diamond sisters. They are the daughters and heirs of Diamond Corporations International. They are also Peridot’s elder cousins, and fortunately dote on her, unlike their powerful mothers whom Peridot has never seen eye to eye.

_‘Peridot! How darling to hear from you~!’_

Peridot smiles when she hears the whiny, bossy tone of Yelena’s voice through the phone. It’s comforting to hear from somebody that is family and cares for her. She asks Yelena to meet her at Rosa` Marie’s Parlour within the hour, and Yelena agrees without a second of hesitation. Peridot can hear her yelling for a chauffeur just before the line goes dead.

At 2:30 PM, Peridot walks into the fancy restaurant in her $10 sneakers and spots her cousins right away. They have been seated right in front of the bar only for special reservations (she and Amethyst once found this out the hard way) and Peridot observes the girls for a moment before making way towards them.

They are talking, but they do so with an elegance that would make even a king quiet down to eavesdrop.

Yelena is blonde, pert, and sharply dressed. Blair is her sister’s opposite; hair dip-dyed baby blue, fitted in a silk sun dress; she is reserved and soft spoken.

They’re both midway through sipping dry martini’s when Yelena spots Peridot first and immediately starts to cause a scene only the wealthy can allow themselves to get away with in a place like this.

‘Peridot, my darling!’ she practically sings, and heads turn at the commotion. Some diners recognise Yelena’s face, and Peridot has quite forgotten her cousin’s ability to steer all spotlight directly on her person. Yelena does not seem fazed and throws her arms tight around Peridot, and Peridot returns the embrace, the scent of face powder and Channel perfume overwhelming.

‘Blair and I have missed you so much! Come, come! Tell us all we’ve missed!’ 

For the next four hours Peridot is treated like she has a million dollars to her name. Blair and Yelena coo and coddle her when she tells them all about her break-up with Amethyst, encouraging cocktails down her throat. They seem to enjoy that Peridot is a lesbian, believing that gay culture was ‘fashionable’ as Yelena put it. She prods for all the gossip in Peridot’s life before she can’t hold back much longer to tell Peridot all about the dramatics in hers. 

‘-Mother is still pressuring me to make this deal with Quartz industries! Honestly, she loves to forget the ongoing feud between Mama and that Rose Quartz!’ 

Peridot rolls her eyes; Yelena so clingy and obedient to her mother, yet ranting off any chance she could to willing ears. Blair is not so lenient to the bad-mothing of her least favourite parent and tries to counter the conversation. 

‘You know that Mother only wants peace after the trouble with Rose,’ she argues with her glass just inches away from her soft lips, ‘we all know she’d like her to drop dead after the supposed embezzlement, but we have a reputation to protect. Keep your enemies closer, aren’t I correct?’

 Yelena raises her eyebrows at her sister and pinches her thin cheek playfully with a smile. Blair bats her away, but their hands tangle together under the bar table, a habit they’d had since childhood.

Peridot enjoys the silence for a moment while the twins whisper together and takes a long sip of her third martini. She checks her phone for the time, and she hasn’t realised how quickly it’s flown. Its 4:45, only a couple hours to go, and a nagging little voice tells her she shouldn’t show up to meet her new partner drunk.

Peridot sets down the glass and tells the twins she has somewhere she has to be. The girls seem disappointed, but agree to meet her later within the week. Yelena beats them all to the check, leaving a big tip and her number to the waiter she said Blair had been staring at.  

Peridot watches as a squabble breaks out as they get into a taxi, scarcely waving Peridot goodbye. She shakes her head, picks up her grocery bags and sets off for home in the warmth of the evening. She thinks hard.

***

Its half five when Peridot gets back, having avoided taking the subway. An excuse to avoid reaching her place sooner and knowing Amethyst wouldn’t be there. She’s realised that the break-up has almost been like a like band aid, just rip it off and wait for the red mark to fade.

Amethyst is loud, and she’s reckless and all the time they were together she would pull Peridot from her sheltered life to one full of adventure and living life in a different gear setting. But she never got involved with anybody else’s dramas- only creating her own. She had been in her little world with Peridot, and Peridot had just been happy to live in that world forever.

And then Amethyst took a sledgehammer and destroyed it. Now Peridot was in a lonely apartment, putting away her groceries and wondering where it all went wrong. 

Time ticks on and the sun fades away. Peridot tries to occupy herself with anything; her files from work, finishing reports, playing a few notes of her favourite songs on the keys of her beat up piano.

Peridot feels heavy and decides to take a shower before she heads out to doing something stupid. Her bathroom isn’t really a bathroom; it’s a huge plaster wall that was installed before the warehouse were sold into real estate, behind it is just a sink, metal tub and toilet.

The huge windows that adorn her apartment don’t really help for privacy, but Peridot doesn’t care. She stares at her reflection that’s given detail in the dark of the night and studies herself. She’s not supermodel pretty, but she doesn’t consider herself unattractive. Bright green eyes glare at the slim of her upper body to the thick of her hips. Her fingers trace the silly watercolour UFO tattoo under her ribs, a present from Amethyst. Blonde hair that is always sticking up short is flat against her scalp, and she runs a hand of shampoo through it.  

The water is turned off and Peridot dries her hair and dresses in a neon green crop top and black low-cut shorts. She grabs her phone, slips on her shoes and oversized white denim jacket. She pauses just a second before she switches out the lights to leave, heading back to her bed.  

In the side table drawer is a hot-pink tazor her mother once gave her. She stashes it in her deep pockets and finally makes tracks for downtown.


	3. Don't Call it a Spade if it isn't a Spade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the final update bomb until Friday! 
> 
> If you have any questions, find me over at https://whatthemillennial.tumblr.com/ 
> 
> Love, Betty

[PRESS PLAY](https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwi49bqBhYDVAhXrIMAKHWbnCzEQyCkIJTAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DUuihJInaeN4&usg=AFQjCNFOFmek1OTy3c57c99QHM5dH9nxqg)

If Fridays are sleepless then Saturday nights are bedlam. Empire City is a jungle of nightlife, from the rich in private venues, to the students and kids with their fake ID’s roaming in and out of cheap clubs and partying on the streets.  Peridot knows all the short cuts and backways that connect the city together, shown and found over the five years she’s lived in this maze of a place. It helps when she’s been late for work, or when she was running with Amethyst run from the cops on the off chance she got into a fight in a bar, or stealing liquor from the back.

It takes fifteen minutes on the subway and three fences to hitch her tiny body over to reach downtown. She hasn’t received any more texts from Neon Devils- she doesn’t even have her partner’s name, or any type of instruction to go off. It’s an uncomfortable sort of feeling, walking somewhere blind. She’s tempted to just turn around and go home, maybe even pick up some pizza and binge watch Breaking Bad.

The temptation nearly takes over, and Peridot realises maybe she’s just being irrational and impulsive. It’s laughable! Who follows anonymous texts in the middle of the night anyway? But she’s come this far now anyway, and even if her random partner doesn’t show up there is always a Dominoes take-away on the same street they are to meet. Peridot clenches her fists, inhales, exhales and carries on.

Turning the corner she’s not surprised to see the amount of people surrounding the open streets, 20nd downtown is the hustle and bustle of underground indie clubs and café’s. The young and old in their thick sun glasses, tattooed skin and snap-backs queue up to just get in to see their gigs and poetry slams. It’s busy, and at first Peridot worries she’s not going to find L_008. But as she skirts through the crowds she notices there is a rarity of people standing by themselves.

She checks her phone, it’s one minute past seven. Her bottom lip finds its way into her mouth and her eyes scour the faces, letting bodies push past her as she searches.

That’s when she sees her, a solid gaze that is locked on Peridot like she’s a walking target. She’s just across the street, a tall girl with shoulder length hair that matches the colour of her deep blue eyes. Peridot lowers her phone and watches as the girl makes way towards her, skirting round the taxi’s that people jump in and out of. 

As she gets closer Peridot realises that this is her assigned partner, L_008; and L_008 happens to be enchantingly beautiful. She’s lithe and strong looking, with dark skin under ripped jeans and plaid. There is an unreadable expression on her striking face that makes Peridot want to blush.  

‘Hi?’

Peridot actually blushes. L_008 is speaking to her, and she’s practically gaping at her like a goldfish.  She stuffs her phone into her jacket pocket and pulls herself together before L_008 is convinced she’s psycho and bolts.

‘Hey! Um, L_008 I presume?’

‘You’d presume correctly, I take it you’re Peri?’

‘Yeah, but its Peridot,’ Peridot politely corrects her with an awkward scratch to her neck, ‘do I get to know your true identity?’

‘Name’s Larry, mom always wanted a son’ L_008 answers with a quirky smile that Peridot can’t help but return. ‘Larry’ is a joker, and Peridot can appreciate that.

‘Well Larry, it’s good to meet you, but it seems that necklace is giving you away.’  

She nods to the gold pendant hanging around Larry’s neck that reads in tiny italic writing, _To Lapis, with love, M xxx_. Lapis raises her eyebrows, and that smile never falters. 

‘You _are_ observant. I suppose that’s a skill we’re going to need tonight.’

‘Yeah, if this game is actually legitimate,’ Peridot scoffs, ‘did you get any sort of instruction other than to meet here?’  

Lapis glances around where they stand and hums a little under her breath thoughtfully.  

‘Come with me.’

Peridot follows when Lapis takes off away from the hustle and bustle of downtown, leading her through an under path that’s poorly lit, and Peridot jumps when a cyclist zooms past them without so much as a bell ting. Lapis barely blinks.

When they emerge the city seems quieter, and there is diner with blue lights and silver plating on the next corner. A 50’s vibe radiates from the diner as well as the ambient hues, a blinking sign outside reading BOB’S. It’s quirky, almost out of place-looking for this city. It’s nearly empty, and they are bathed in blue when they enter. Peridot slips into one of the booths, Lapis opposite her. A tall waitress with black skin and white hair approaches them and slides two mugs of coffee on the stainless steel, leaving with a gentle squeeze on Lapis’s shoulder. 

Peridot is about to question their relationship when Lapis sips from her coffee and takes out her phone, placing it between them.  She nods at it for Peridot to look at, the screen revealing a text message.

Unknown Number:

HELLO L_008 :)

YOU HAVE MET PERI_800 AND HAVE ACCEPTED TO PLAY NEON DEVILS

FOR $500,000, THE RULES ARE SIMPLE FOR YOU BOTH

NO POLICE

NO BACKING OUT

BOTH PLAYERS MUST COMPLETE ALL STAGES OF THEIR CHALLENGE  

HAPPY PLAYING :) 

Peridot suddenly feels cold, like the blood in her body has turned to ice and she reads the text once more. She looks up to Lapis who is watching for her reaction. Goose bumps rise on her skin, the words she reads feel threatening.

‘Money? Police?  This changes everything! Lapis, what the hell is this game?’

Lapis slides away her phone and stares at Peridot like she’s grown two heads, or lost a set of metaphorical balls. She grabs Peridot’s wrist tightly and moves closer, so they are nearly nose-to-nose.

‘You signed up without knowing what this game was? The whole point is for the money, especially with what you have to go through. Didn’t you look it up?’  

‘What, no! I just signed up for kicks! I thought it would be like some sort of safeguarded location, not the fucking Purge!’

Lapis groans and rubs at her temples, ‘my god! You might seem smart but you are stupid! ND is not for a whim, it’s for adrenaline junkies, not for sheltered little girls who want to ride the wild side for a night.’ 

Peridot flushes red, and not from Lapis’s charming face. She feels a whirlwind of panic and embarrassment, unsure what she has truly let herself into. Lapis purses her lips at Peridot’s expression and tries to soften the lash of her words.

‘Look, chill out white girl. You can walk away if you want to, since the game hasn’t started yet.’

‘First of all, I’m not white you clod. Second of all, when does it start?’

Lapis shrugs, ‘whenever we get our first challenge. But I gotta warn you, if you accept the first challenge, you _have_ to see it til the end. Those are the rules.’  

‘And if I back out?’

‘You won’t, _beige girl._ ’

The girls stare each-other down, the tension thick with uncertainty and threat. Peridot wonders why Lapis chose this path with the knowledge of the dangers it poses, but she decides to investigate those intentions later. Right now she wants to get on with it, why? Peridot doesn’t know. Maybe it’s the fiery rage of heartbreak, maybe she wants to show Lapis that she isn’t a loser, or maybe she just wants to prove something to herself.

And the promise of $500,000 at the end of the line is starting to sound very attractive the more she thinks about it.

‘Fine. Fuck it, I’m in.’

That lovely smile of Lapis’s finds its way back on to her face, and sticks out a tattooed hand for Peridot to take.

‘Glad to hear it partner,’ she replies coolly as they shake hands firmly. Peridot lets out a small gasp of surprise when Lapis tugs her closer once again, and Peridot’s face goes redder as she can feel the heat of Lapis’s skin against hers.

‘I’m here for a reason. So don’t do this if you’re going to screw this up for both of us.’

She’s deadly serious, and Peridot feels slightly afraid of her. But she is determined, she’s tougher than given credit for; and if she can survive a relationship with her crook of her ex-girlfriend and her insane family drama day in and day out, she can survive anything.  

She squeezes Lapis’s hand, tight.

‘Trust me, I won’t.’

Lapis nods, satisfied and she lets Peridot go. She barely has time to say anything else when Peridot’s phone rings, somebody is calling.

UNKNOWN NUMBER.

Lapis nods at her encouragingly.

‘Go on, answer it.’

So Peridot does. Her hands are clammy as she answers and very nearly drops the phone as she hold it up to her ear. Lapis watches her, and Peridot notices her fists are clenched. She’s nervous too.

That makes her feel worse.

‘H-hello?’

_‘Hello Peri_800! Are you ready to begin the challenge with L_008?’_

The voice on the line surprises her; it’s a woman’s voice. She sounds young and childlike, like the voice on a kid’s TV show. It’s strange, and Peridot she takes a shaky breath, in and out.

‘Yes, we are.’

_‘Very good! Now, you have 48 hours to complete this task. All you have to do is make it to Court through four check points without being caught! Isn’t that simple?’_

‘Um, okay. Where is Court?’

_‘While you move we send the clues! But be careful, please don’t do anything naughty and break the rules, otherwise you’ll be disqualified!’_

Lapis mouths something at Peridot.

_Don’t ask about Court_

Peridot flips her off and focuses on the conversation with the faceless voice, making she doesn’t misunderstand anything that is being said to her. She highly doubts the woman will tell her twice.

‘Where is court?’

‘ _That’s a secret!’_

‘Wait, what?! Hey!’

_‘Happy playing!’_

The line goes dead.

‘Hello?! Hello! Fuck!’

Peridot glares at the phone and taps the screen to try and call back the number, but when she does the line is out of service. Lapis gently takes the phone from her hands to see the call log herself. When she realises it’s of no use, she sighs and hands the device back to Peridot, glaring at her new acquaintance.

‘I told you, dummy.’

‘What the heck is Court?’

‘It’s a code word for base, our destination.’

‘It’s base?’ Peridot speaks slowly, replaying the conversation in her head, ‘that woman said we had to get there without being caught, like cat and mouse!’

Peridot’s eyes wander to gaze out the window, were they being watched already? Where was their first clue?

‘Hey, Peridot.’

Peridot snaps back to reality when Lapis calls her name. She’s staring at her phone with a look of distain on her face, nose wrinkled. She holds the phone up to her, a new message from Neon Devils.

‘I think we know who the cat is.’

It’s a picture of a woman Peridot vaguely recognises, but she isn’t sure from where. She’s a black woman, attractive yet mean looking with a look in her eyes that could commit cold murder. Her hair is a wild dark mane with purple dyed strands.  She’s smirking at the camera, and under the picture is a text.   

RUN RUN RUN! SUGILITE WANTS SOME FUN! 

‘Creepy,‘ Lapis says with disgust and locks her phone, ‘I suppose we should get out of here until we’re sent a damn clue.’

‘I think I know that woman,’ Peridot says quietly, but Lapis hears her loud and clear. She appears surprised.

‘Yeah? I thought you hadn’t researched the game.’

‘I didn’t, but she dated one of my friends. She’s uh, she’s not a good person.’

‘Huh, it’s a small world after all.’  

Peridot wonders why Sugilite has been assigned to them, maybe it is just a small world in an even smaller city. But time is ticking on, and Lapis is right. They need to start moving right now, especially since they’re being tracked. Lapis stands up and approaches the waitress, slipping her something from her back pocket and whispering something. The waitress ducks down and presses a kiss on Lapis’s cheek, handing her a large backpack from under the counter.

‘Let’s go.’ 

Peridot stands up when Lapis beckons her, following her out of the diner. She looks back over her shoulder to where the waitress watches them go, poker faced. They’re a few feet away from the diner when Peridot starts to ask questions.

‘How do you know that woman?’ 

Lapis doesn’t look at her.

‘She’s my sister.’

‘And the bag?’

‘Precaution.’ 

‘Great…’

The game has started, there’s no changing that, but Peridot can’t shake the feeling that maybe she has made the biggest mistake of her life. 

She hopes she is wrong.   


	4. Comics

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's doing a triple late shift on Thursday til Saturday? It's me. Guess who's getting chapter 4 early? It's you!
> 
> https://whatthemillennial.tumblr.com/ 
> 
> Love, Betty

[PRESS PLAY ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaFh71YwZ4Y)

In the first hour since leaving the diner, Peridot feels a gripping anxiety they were being watched, glancing over her shoulder at every given moment.  She’s worried they’re going to be chased by an axe wielding maniac, or a masked figure jumping out to grab them.

But its 8:30 PM, they're in a brightly lit, populated area and Peridot is just paranoid, she knows she is. But that seems to what they’ve only been doing so far; walking.  Eventually Peridot grows tired of the silence and the directionless path, and she stops Lapis in the middle of Broadstreet.

‘This is stupid. We’ve been walking for an hour now and we have no clues, or reason to go anywhere yet!’

Lapis adjusts the strap on her shoulder, trying not to roll her eyes at Peridot's whining.

‘So? We keep moving until one of us gets a text, that’s how it works.’

‘Yes, but that’s just going to waste useless energy, and I highly doubt anybody is going to catch us within the first hour of the game.’ 

Lapis seems to take in what Peridot is saying, weighing up their options. She nods in agreement of sorts.

‘I suppose you’ve got a point, but we have to keep low. What do you suggest?’

Peridot thinks, an idea popping into her head.  

‘Want to get a milkshake?’

*** 

Lapis is bewildered by the proposal at first, but allows Peridot to lead her to a new destination which is a mile south on the clattering subway.

She wants to laugh out loud to where Peridot stops, outside a comic book shop called _X-TEA._ It’s a weird looking place, completely empty at this hour, but it’s quiet and cosy with rows of shelves and an X-Files themed café in the back. A man that looks a year or two older than them wipes down tables, all glasses, blonde dreads and a Hawaiian shirt. The moment he spots Peridot he straightens up to greet her, ignoring Lapis altogether.

‘Yo, what’s up m’lady?’

 _M’lady? God, what a nerd,_ Lapis thinks while she witnesses their bizarre handshake

Peridot returns a high-five and digs out her mobile from her pocket.

‘Hey Ronaldo, I know it’s late, but I need a favour.’

‘Anything for my favourite customer. Whatcha need, buddy?’

It isn’t long until Lapis is surrounded by milkshakes and tech, watching as she sips from her banana blast as Ronaldo and Peridot attempted to trace the mystery phone call. She has to give Peridot some credit, this was smart. She glances up when Ronaldo stops typing, looking somewhat triumphant.

‘So, okay! You want the bad news or the good news?’

Peridot groans, rubbing at her neck.

‘Surprise me?’

‘Soooo, the good news is I managed to trace the call, it came from the Temple Hub over at 42’s.’

Lapis is stunned when Peridot swears loudly and turns the screen so she can look at it, making sure there is no mistake.

‘Of all the fucking places! They must have used the payphone inside.’

‘I don’t doubt it. I’ve heard about some serious shit about Neon Devils, and these people don’t fuck around! They research their players and personalise the game around them. Some people have been filming their challenges, and it’s not for the faint of heart. I’ll find an example…’

Ronaldo types something into the laptop, then pushes it back so Lapis can see too. She can’t help but feel curious. The three watch as a YouTube video loads, titled NEON DEVILS SNAP STORY! DAVID AND RICK RUN FROM MENTAL MITCH PT 3

 _‘Hey guys! So Rick and I just escaped ole Mitchy for the second time,’_ ‘David’ sounds like a young man with an Australian accent, and he is filming ‘Rick’ in front of him, he is standing on a roof, the city below him. He has a bloody lip and a bruised eye, but he is laughing.

_‘Shit yes we did! Oh, okay I got a new text…um, okay! It says, well done for making it through checkpoint three, you are halfway through your challenge. Your next clue is this- Dress me up, dress me down, wear a smile, wear a frown. Make me laugh, make me cry, sing before you die. Yo man, what the fuck?’_

Before his question is answered, both Lapis and Peridot watch, gripped as a gun blasts and David screams.

_‘Oh fuck! FUCK! RUN, RU-‘_

Suddenly Rick falls to the ground, and David jumps over a low ledge, pursued by a faceless man. The video cuts out, going to black.   

Peridot is rendered speechless, she sits back against the cracked leather and replays the scene in her head. It’s an exaggeration, as most things are on the internet. It’s not the first time she’s seen people do crazy things on snapchat, but the gun fires and the screaming sounded real.

‘See what I said? Those guys parkour on YouTube, but last year they were arrested for trying to scale Sydney opera house,’ Ronaldo prattles, bringing up the website page from Perth Weekly, ‘see? They go through your Facebook, Instagram, Spotify- everything.’ Ronaldo tells her, ‘that was the bad news, by the way.’  

Lapis chimes in, slurping down the rest of her milkshake

‘The nerd’s right, you know. I did warn you Peridot.’

‘I’ll have you know, the correct term is geek, not nerd!’ 

Lapis ignores Ronaldo’s whining protest and gathers her things together, slipping out of the booth and encouraging Peridot to follow. Peridot doesn’t move, not immediately.

‘Where are you going?’ 

‘We need to go to the Temple Hub, that’s where the phone call was made. Do you still have the logged timed?’

‘Well, yes but-‘ 

‘But _nothing_ , come on, we can’t stay here all night.’ 

Lapis stares her down, and Peridot can hardly put up a fight in this difficult situation. Her pride aches in her chest, and she thanks Ronaldo for his help.

‘Anytime, mi amigo! I’ll keep tabs on you and try to find out more about these devil dudes. Good luck out there!’ 

Peridot knows she’s going to need that luck, given what she knows now and heading into it with a stranger. Lapis practically has to drag her out of the comic book shop, and they are on the move once more.

‘So how did you meet that dweeb anyways?’

Peridot smiles when Lapis picks up conversation, something she hasn’t initiated yet.

‘We met by accident, actually. He was a technician in my department last year before getting fired. He tried to hack the data-bases because he was convinced we were covering up government expenditure to fund alien experimentation.’

Lapis snorts, shoulders shaking with laughter at the story. Peridot finds that laugh so adorable, so unlike the tough persona Lapis puts up.

‘So he’s a conspiracy theorist, huh?’ Lapis chortles, wiping a tear from her eye, ‘figures!’

‘He’s a little eccentric, but he’s a good guy.’

Lapis nods.

‘So where do you work then? Buzzfeed? Apple Store? Oooh, I bet you actually work at Starbucks!’

‘I do not work at Starbucks!’

‘Hm, you’re right. I’d have remembered if you took my coffee order, I would have also taken your number,’ Lapis winks at her, and Peridot can’t help but let a bashful smile creep on her heated face.

‘I um, I’m a consulting director for DCI.’

Lapis eyes nearly bug out of her head, jaw nearly falling to the floor.

‘You fucking don’t work for the Diamonds! Those people are on another planet, especially those brat heiresses.’

Peridot feels a twang of hurt, disliking the way Lapis is ready to insult her family like that. She knows Lapis’s views are a given, but she can’t help but snap at her.

‘Those ‘’brat heiresses’’ are my cousins, and I love them very much.’

This information makes Lapis stop walking altogether, looking at Peridot like she’d grown a _third_ head. Peridot doesn’t like the way those eyes pierce into her soul, shivering when the wind picks up and breezes through her thin clothing.

‘So you’re a Diamond?’

‘Well technically I’m not a Diamond, not by name anyways.’

‘But you’re a Diamond by blood?’

Peridot goes stiff, shuffling awkwardly in her shoes.

‘Yes, I’m Yeva and Blu` Diamond’s niece.’

Lapis takes one staggering step back from Peridot, like she’s been shoved and runs a hand through her hair, pushing it back to exaggerate the distress on her face. Peridot feels her chest tighten in anxiety, and she tries to soften the situation.

‘B-but that doesn’t mean anything! My aunts don’t even like me, I just work for them!’

‘Jesus Christ! Peridot, do you realise how fucking _stupid_ you are?’

‘Um, I’m not sure what you mean-‘ 

‘If anybody from my end finds out I’m shacking up with a Diamond, by name or not, they’ll see me as leverage and you as a business deal. My people hate rich assholes like you, including my sister.’

‘I told you, I just work for my aunts! I’m hardly a part of their lives!’

‘Oh, but you hang out with their billionaire daughters and call them family! Peridot, you should have been more careful. Shit...’

Lapis heaves a sigh and drags her hands down her face in exasperation. She slides the backpack off one shoulder and unzips it, and Peridot nearly dies on the spot when Lapis takes out a handgun from the first pocket.

‘O-oh my god! Lapis, look, we can talk about this!’

Lapis rolls her eyes and flips the gun upside down, the handle facing Peridot and not the barrel.

‘Calm down, dork. Take it.’

Peridot is confused, she’s not being threatened and Lapis is handing out a weapon to her, jiggling it like candy bar for a child to take. Hesitantly she reaches out and wraps her small hand around the handle. Lapis smiles at her, like she’s passed some sort of test.

‘There we go, feel a little safer?’

Peridot does not feel safer. The gun trembles in her palm as her hand shakes, she doesn’t know whether to feel relieved or scared Lapis has given her the weapon, rather than turn it on her.

‘Hey, _hey.’_

Peridot jerks her head up to look at Lapis, who reaches out to take her thin shoulders and grip them tight.

‘Listen to me, okay? Tonight we’re a team, and we have to have each-others backs. I don’t want to be hauling dead weight- _literally._ I need to trust you, and you have to trust me. ’

Peridot doesn’t know what to say, but it seems she doesn’t have to when Lapis’s hands move from her shoulders to cup her jaw, leaning in to force down a kiss.

It’s not passionate, or romantic. It’s a sweet, simple kiss that doesn’t last more than three seconds, but when Lapis pulls away Peridot feels like all the blood has rushed to her head and she feels dizzy and warm. Lapis keeps her hands on her neck and looks at her, their eyes on lock down. Peridot could get lost in those eyes forever.

‘Do you trust me?’

Lapis asks the question with an intensity to her tone, and Peridot nods.

‘Yes, I do.’   

Lapis is satisfied, Peridot can feel her chest deflate in relief that they seem to be on the same side now.  

‘Then let’s do this motherfucker.’


	5. Kiss Me With Your Fist

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing The Saltwater Room was so therapeutic, this chapter practically wrote itself. 
> 
> https://whatthemillennial.tumblr.com/ 
> 
> Love, Betty

[PRESS PLAY ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AsvZge3IiQ)

 

Peridot decides to hail them an Uber to Temple Hub, as it’s halfway across the city and they don’t have all the time in the world.

The drivers radio blares German pop music,  Lapis chooses to look out of the window, keeping her hands to herself. Peridot sneaks little glances at Lapis every time the street lights hit her slim body, illuminating her in yellow hues.

Peridot takes in all the little details about her; the dark roots growing in on the top of her blue head, the freckles dotted on her tan, tattooed skin that looks so soft that Peridot just wants to reach out and _touch_.

She can still feel the kiss tingling on her lips, tracing the chapped skin with her fingertips. Peridot had never received a kiss so tender before, a feeling unlike anything else. Peridot didn’t know if it was something Lapis truly wanted from her, or just a tactic she devised to calm her down. But either way, she just wants to kiss Lapis again, and for that she feels a sickening guilt.

Then the car stops, and she’s thrown back into reality away from her intrusive thoughts. She can hear a steady beat coming from the venue opposite, the familiar grunge records played every other night.

The Temple Hub is a tall building, four stories high and spray painted with the intricate image of a six armed goddess with two faces, in the dark the neon pink paint makes it look like an actual place of worship, instead of a club café.

Temple Hub is a vault of memories for Peridot, after all she was here only the other week on the fourth floor and watching Amethyst play with the rest of the Crystal Gems. It had been rock and roll night, and the crowd had been massive. Peridot had stood under flashing lights and the disco ball, in awe of Amethyst and the way she ripped up the stage in her guitar solos. It had been a wonderful night, as they all had been at the Temple Hub.

Peridot realises she is rooted to the sidewalk, unable to move. Oh god, her chest is tightening up again and her heart feels like it’s going to shrivel up to dust. There is wetness in her eyes, she can’t believe her body is choosing now to grieve.

Lapis has skirted round the car and realises Peridot’s body is frigid and her fists are clenched so tight her knuckles are white. There is something clearly wrong with her, and while she is concerned, Lapis doesn’t have time for dramatics.

‘Hey, Peridot, are you okay?’

Peridot jumps when Lapis touches the outside of her wrist. Oh, right.

‘Sorry…I spaced out a little’.

‘You look like you were on the verge of a breakdown, the hell is wrong with you?’

Lapis sounds irritated with her, and Peridot can’t deal with anyone snapping at her right now. She just wants to get in and get out, avoiding anyone named Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst, specifically. She shrugs Lapis away and finally finds momentum in her legs.

‘Nothing, let’s go.’

Lapis wants to say something, but doesn’t. She follows Peridot through the front doors, up the steps and onto the first floor. Lapis is impressed by the décor, she’s heard about the themed floors of Temple Hub, and above the bar fairy lights spell out the name _Pearl_. It’s fancy looking, with water effects on the ceiling and pastel disco lights. It looks like Atlantis met the 90’s, and somehow it fits with the techno remixes of the Chainsmokers.  

She lets Peridot lead her through the crowd straight to the bar, approaching the guy behind it. He is tall, and looks like a weightlifter with black curly hair and wearing a red t-shirt with a yellow star. He seems to spot them a mile away, and he smiles warmly. He says something to the woman helping him serve the bar, and after she nods at him, he skirts around the bar and meets them halfway.

‘Peridot, hi!’

‘Steven, we really need your help! Can we talk somewhere?’

Steven doesn’t question her request, and takes her wrist in one hand, Lapis’s in the other. Lapis wants to protest, but allows Steven to drag them behind the bar and through a carefully disguised door into a small office. It’s bright and colourful, and Lapis squints as she adjusts to the brightness of the room. Steven hugs Peridot for a second before letting her sit down on the lilac sofa behind her, and Lapis joins her. Steven pulls up a chair at the computer desk, leaning back.

‘So what’s going on? Pearl told me you and Amethyst broke up, is that true?’

Peridot can feel Lapis staring at her, but she forces herself to keep focused on the objective and keeps her gaze steady and forward.

‘Yes, it’s true. But that’s not why I’m here, I need to access your security logs, it’s important.’

‘Uh, sure, but what for?’

Peridot chews her lip. She wants to tell Steven, she really does. She knows she can trust him, but she doesn’t trust herself.

‘I just need to see who used the payphone on Garnet’s floor at 7:25 tonight.’

Steven looks thoroughly confused, but he does as he is asked and swivels the chair to face his computer and logs in. It’s an agonizing three minutes as Steven replays the footage on Garnet’s floor, but he finds what he is looking for and pauses at 7:25 exactly. 

‘Bingo, I think I found your mystery caller!’

Peridot and Lapis jump up to peer at the screen, and on the monitor is a very short woman wearing a smart dress and white gloves holding the phone in her hands, an unnerving expression on her face, almost evil. She doesn’t seem to notice the camera right above her, which Peridot knows is concealed by the ruby and sapphire art installation. 

‘Lapis, does she look familiar to you?’  

Lapis shakes her head at Peridot’s question.

‘Not a damn clue, but at least we know her face now.’

Steven watches their quiet exchange and the looks on their faces. He shakes his head and leans on his palm, but that’s when he sees it. A small bulge poking out of Peridot’s shorts, and when he peers closer he realises he’s looking at the barrel of a hand gun. His mouth goes dry.

If Steven didn’t know any better, he’d say Peridot was in a _lot_ of trouble. Who was the blue haired stranger, and why the hell was Peridot walking around armed? Steven couldn’t make sense of it, what was going on?

He has to find out, curiosity always got the better of him. 

‘Hey, Peri, can I have a word?’

Peridot looks away from the screen, she tries to look innocent.

‘Of course, what is it?’

Lapis looks over at him, and her challenging gaze make him feel unsettled. He swallows and nods to the door.

‘Uh, Lapis was it? Can you give us a minute?’

Lapis frowns at him, and she’s about to argue but Peridot beats her to it.

‘It’s okay Lapis, It won’t take long.’

Peridot can tell they’re going to squabble about it later, but right now she needs to make sure Steven is in the picture and out of it at the same time, and she can’t do that with Lapis’s judgmental presence in the room. Lapis’s eyes flicker between them, making up her mind. Reluctantly she nods and shoves one hand in her pocket, the other adjusting the backpack strap.

‘Five minutes, I’ll wait outside.’

Lapis turns on her heel and head outside into the noisy club, slamming the door behind her. Peridot winces, turning back to Steven who is cross-armed and looking down at her darkly.

‘Peridot, what the heck is going on? Who is that girl?’ 

‘Nothing! And she’s a just a friend, Steven.’

‘Oh really? If she’s really your friend, then why are you walking around with guns all of a sudden?’

Peridot curses herself for wearing revealing clothing, and curses the humid heat of the night. She’s in deadlock, knowing full well Steven is not going to let this go.

‘Look, I can explain-‘

‘Explain?! Peridot, I know you’re going through a tough time with Amethyst, and you’re hurting, but this just isn’t you! I need to know, _please_.’ 

‘I can’t tell you, I wish I could but I can’t! I did something stupid, but I’m going to get out of it. Just give me a couple of hours and I’ll tell you everything.’

‘Okay, now you’ve got me really worried! Peridot, tell me right now or I’m going to call the police.’

‘You can’t be serious, you wouldn’t _dare!’_

‘I will if it means you’re protected, Peridot let me help you!’

Steven is moving closer to her now, and Peridot’s mind is racing a million mph. She’s freaking out, but forces herself not to show it. She hangs her head and sighs, pretending to look remorseful.

‘O-okay, I’ll talk. Um, can we sit?’

Steven smiles, looking like he’s made a breakthrough and ruffles Peridot’s hair.

‘Of course we can, don’t worry. I’m going to help you through this.’

Peridot waits until Steven has turned his back to sit on the sofa, and then she moves like lightning, almost ripping the door off its hinges to get it open. Lapis is still there, stunned when Peridot bursts out and grabs her hand, yelling at her.

‘RUN! RUN NOW!’

They push through the crowd desperately, and Lapis looks over her shoulder and spots Steven rushing after them, bellowing Peridot’s name.

‘PERIDOT! COME BACK, QUICK SOMEBODY STOP THEM! SECURITY!’

Steven is tall enough and loud enough to start a commotion, and soon enough all attention is on them. A woman tries to grab Lapis’s arm, but she punches herself free and it’s pure will and desperation to get out of there. Distinctly she can feel her phone buzzing, but she barely has time for that now.

They can see the entrance, and Lapis’s hand is tight in Peridot’s clammy palm. Peridot’s heart is in her mouth, and her body is on auto piolet, forcing her legs to run as fast as they will take her.

They’re nearly there, and Peridot tastes freedom with Steven and two members of security on their heels.

And then she’s sees the one person she didn’t want to see in a million years. Amethyst is at the door having a smoke break, and she drops the cigarette in surprise when Peridot and Lapis nearly fall over her in their haste to get out the front door.

‘Peridot?’

‘Amethyst?’

The ex-couple stare at each-other for one precious second before the spell is broken, and Steven’s voice bellows a few steps away.

‘AMETHYST, STOP PERIDOT! GRAB HER NOW!’

Oh fuck, Peridot knows she has no time and she’s grateful Amethyst doesn’t try to lunge for her, only appear flabbergasted.

‘AMETHYST!’

‘Peridot?’

Her voice is quiet, caring even. Peridot is almost reeled in when Amethyst reaches out a bejewelled hand for her to take, but she’s snatched away by Lapis, dragging her down street. Amethyst is lost from sight, calling after her as they hurtle down 42’s, Steven and the security members hot on their tail. 

‘PERIDOT COME BACK HERE!’

‘Fuck me, that dude is fast!’ Lapis huffs, ‘come on, this way!’

She takes control of their direction and they take a skidding turn left, heading for Empire City Park. It’s dark, and closed for the night but that doesn’t seem to deter Lapis. She lets go of Peridot’s hand and takes a running jump to spring up the cement wall that surrounds the park, hitching herself up. When she’s standing on the top of it she grabs Peridot’s waiting wrists and Peridot yelps when she’s thrown right over and onto the hard ground.  

‘Shit! Get up, they’re still coming!’

Lapis leaps to the ground and hauls Peridot’s aching body to her feet, forcing them to start running again. She’s right, Peridot can still hear Steven and at least one other person in pursuit, climbing over the wall as they run into the shadows of the trees.

‘L-Lapis, we need to hide!’

They try to find somewhere to keep cover, and Lapis looks around desperately. Finally a huge bush captures her attention, and she points it out.

‘Over there,’ she whispers, ‘quickly!’

Peridot barely has time to register what’s happening when Lapis pushes her into the bush, jumping in after her. There isn’t a lot of room, the branches digging into her skin, and Peridot finds that Lapis is straddling her lap. She makes a small whimper, and Lapis slaps a hand over her mouth to keep her quiet.

The next few minutes are pure agony as they force themselves to keep as still as possible. Peridot can’t see very well in the dark, and with her sense of hearing heightened, every sound is amplified. She can hear two pairs of footsteps, and Steven’s voice calling.

‘Peridot! I know you can hear me, please come out!’

They listen as walks closer and closer to their hiding place, and Peridot is worried he’ll hear her beating heart, the blood pounding in her ears.

‘Peridot, please I just want to help you! _Please!_ We all love you, including Amethyst! We just want to look after you!’

Peridot squeezes her eyes shut, and this time she can’t stop the tears from falling. Lapis feels her wet tears running over her fingers, but she doesn’t move her hand from Peridot’s mouth.

‘Steven, this is pointless,’ groans another voice, tired and agitated, ‘they’re probably miles away by now. We should go back.’

‘Lars, you’re not helping!’

‘Well you’re not helping my pay-check! I don’t get paid to run into creepy parks after your tearaway friends!’

Steven sighs heavily, and the footsteps move away. Lapis lets out a very slow exhale, not realising she had been holding her breath for so long.

‘Alright, let’s go back.’

‘What are you going to do about your friends? Want to call the cops?’ 

‘I don’t know… let’s just get out of here before the night guard finds us.’

The girls wait until Lars and Steven are nowhere to be heard, and then Lapis sticks her head out of the bush. When she’s sure it’s clear, she stands up and helps Peridot out of the bush. Peridot is sobbing quietly, sinking to her knees the moment she’s on her feet. This is a fucking mess, and she almost let them get caught. Seeing Amethyst’s face was too much, and all the love she felt for her comes rushing back so much it _hurts_. It’s painful like a white hot knife in her chest, and soon enough she’s howling into her hands.

Lapis stands over her, completely at a loss and realising Peridot’s put them in serious danger, but she’s also in a great deal of pain. Lapis decides she can’t care about that, and in a fit of anger she pulls up Peridot by the scruff of her neck and lets it rip.

‘You fucking idiot! You almost got us arrested- your friend is going to call the fucking cops!’

Peridot has stopped crying, but she feels lightheaded and it takes her a second to process what Lapis is saying to her. She takes a gasping breath, struggling against Lapis’s grip.

 ‘Get off of me!’

‘I can’t believe how close that was, do you realise what could have happened?!’

‘I’m sorry! I didn’t know Steven would react that way, he saw the gun and he flipped!’

‘HE SAW THE GUN? Fuck! You _idiot!_ ’ 

Something in Peridot snaps. She’s tired, emotional and in Lapis’s strangling grip as she screams at her. In that moment of madness, Peridot lashes out, bringing her fist up she punches Lapis square in the face so hard Lapis yells out in pain, dropping Peridot to the ground. But Peridot isn’t finished and tackles Lapis by the waist, shoving her to the ground and punching her again.

Lapis retaliates with full force, kneeing Peridot in the stomach and Peridot grunts in pain, her moment of weakness allowing Lapis to reach up and wrap her hands around Peridot’s neck, squeezing hard.

Peridot chokes and splutters, trying to pry Lapis’s hands away. She locates a badly placed finger and pulls it back hard, causing Lapis to scream. Peridot gasps and backhands Lapis across the other side of her face. Suddenly her wrists are grabbed, and Lapis regains control of the fight when she overpowers Peridot completely by rolling them over so that she is on top. Peridot thrashes and screams, but Lapis is bigger and stronger than she is. It’s no use.

‘STOP FIGHTING ME!’

‘FUCK YOU LAPIS!’

‘FUCK YOU TOO!’

Peridot lets out one last scream of anguish before giving in and glaring daggers up at her captor. They’re both breathing heavily, and Lapis doesn’t let up, making sure she has Peridot pinned.

‘Did you get that out of your system?’

‘No! I want to rip your cloddy face off!’

Lapis groans. Her cheek is throbbing, and her left hand hurts like hell. Peridot is furious, squirming under her. Lapis looks down at her properly. She is flushed, cheeks pink and neck littered in bruises. Her crop top has ridden up, there’s a tattoo on her ribs. Peridot’s angry, _so_ angry, and for some reason that turns Lapis on. She lets her eyes wander, taking in Peridot’s body with a greedy gaze. She knows she shouldn’t, but she lets herself act on impulse as she leans down and captures Peridot’s lips in a second kiss of the hour.

Peridot doesn’t react for a second, too stunned to move. But then something in her brain clicks. Lapis is kissing her, _she’s kissing her_ , and it feels good. Really good. Lapis loosens her grip on Peridot’s wrists, practically inhaling her. It’s not like it was last time, sweet or innocent. It becomes rough and sloppy and there is a need that builds up between them. Peridot wraps her arms around Lapis’s strong shoulders, and wandering hands grope the tan skin under Peridot’s crop top. Lapis can’t get enough of how she feels, breaking away from Peridot’s lips to kiss down her throat, biting down hard on the delicate skin. Peridot groans and tips her head back, letting Lapis mark her.

Lapis rests her lips against the reddening skin before letting up, and they lie in the grass together, catching back their breath.

‘Did _that_ get it out of your system?’

Peridot sighs, her limbs aching painfully, especially with Lapis and all that toned body on top of her. At least they weren’t fighting anymore.

‘I’m sorry I attacked you, and nearly got us caught.’

Lapis shrugs and slides off her, sitting up and rolling her neck so it popped.

‘I’m sorry I called you stupid, and I’m sorry about Amethyst. You cried when Steven pulled that stinker of a card on you, it was cruel.’

Peridot doesn’t move, her body lax and staring up at the sky, the only stars were the lights of skyscrapers.

‘What I did _was_ stupid. Besides, Steven might be my friend but he’d choose Amethyst over me any day. They all would.’

For the first time since they’ve met, Lapis finds she can relate to Peridot. She’s loved people and lost people, and her trust has been given and abused more times than she’s had hot dinners. She’s about to say something reassuring when she remembers the text she received in the middle of the Temple Hub dash. She fishes her phone out of her pocket, slightly cracked from where Peridot had thrown her to the ground. It’s only been about fifteen minutes since she received the message, and she reads it quickly.

UNKNOWN NUMBER

HELLO L_008 

HERE IS YOUR FIRST CLUE!    

DIVE INTO ME, YOU’RE MY PREY, BUT I’M SO TEMPTING YOU CAN’T STAY AWAY.  GLISTENING IN THE MOONLIGHT LIKE A SIRENS CALL, TAKE THE RISK AND LET YOURSELF FALL

GOOD LUCK

At first Lapis is stumped, and when she puts the screen in Peridot’s face her accomplice snaps back into action and attempts to solve the riddle.

‘It’s got to do something with water,’ she quickly debunks, and Lapis feel a little embarrassed she didn’t figure that out sooner, ‘but this is Empire City! We’re miles away from any ocean! Maybe it’s a lake?’ 

It’s neither, Lapis realises, and she wants to slap herself for being blinded to the obvious answer, the riddle specifically for her to unravel.

‘It’s the old swimming pool!’ she exclaims, ‘it’s where I used to go all the time when I was a kid, before they built the city gym.’ 

‘Oh! Good brainwork, Lapis! So this pool, where is it?’ 

‘It’s actually not too far from here,’ Lapis says as she helps Peridot to her feet, ‘only two blocks away, but we don’t have a lot of time and we still have that freaking wacko, Sugilite to avoid.’

‘Right… hey, do you actually think we’re being followed? Maybe it was just a form of motivated to scare us!’

‘Thinking like that will get you killed, dumbass.’

Lapis trudges ahead, scoffing at her. Peridot realises her words have irritated Lapis, so she picks up her speed to keep the pace with the taller woman. She wants to argue the subject but she’s still recovering from being almost strangled to death, and she doesn’t want to risk second time unlucky. Instead of pushing Lapis’s boundaries with words, she decides to use actions. They are nearly at the other end of the park and Peridot spots the cement wall up ahead, which is much wider in surface than she realised. If there is one thing Peridot is good at, it’s showing off to make other people laugh. She gently nudges Lapis with her elbow and smirks up at her downy face. 

‘Hey, get a load of this!’

She does a few jumps on the spot, hyping herself up before taking a running start, springing up the wall and flattening her palms, she executes a perfect handstand. Spreading her legs wide to balance herself so she can lift one hand from the flat surface, watching an upside-down Lapis gawk at her.

Peridot knows she can hold her position for as long as she likes, having practiced many times before, but very nearly buckles over in shock when Lapis starts running towards her, and like a cannonball she hurtles herself over, narrowly missing Peridot’s face where she grips the cement and does a backflip vault right between Peridot’s outstretched legs, landing almost perfectly on the sidewalk.

‘Well get a load of _that!’_

‘My crotch very nearly took that load,’ she exclaims, bending forward into a standing position, ‘warn a girl next time!’

Lapis laughs at her, and stretches out her arms.

‘Come on loser, fall back! I’ll catch you!’

Peridot is about to bite back something insulting, but then she remembers when Lapis told Peridot to trust her, just for tonight. Now seems like a good time as ever to test it out that trust, even if she gets a broken leg out if it.

Peridot closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, relaxes her body, and then she lets herself fall over the side of the wall. The whole world seems to shift, and she expects to hit the cemented ground with a crack, but instead she collapses into strong arms and pulled up against Lapis’s warm body supporting her weight without much effort. Peridot opens her eyes and Lapis is smiling down at her, looking smug.

‘You caught me,’ Peridot exhales.

‘Dork, I told you I would.’

Peridot laughs giddily as Lapis lets her down, steadying the dizzy blonde by holding her hand, and when they make a start of walking Lapis doesn’t let go. Peridot squeezes back tight in reassurance that she’s on Lapis’s page now, even if she’s still trying to understand the words in the book.  

They’re still strangers, Peridot keeps herself grounded with that reality, but there’s something about Lapis that she’s never felt with Amethyst, with _anybody,_ and that was the unknown. Lapis is like a mystery that doesn’t think twice about whether she wants to kiss Peridot or kill her. It doesn’t feel like the two and a half hours since they’ve met, and even if she might not be here when the sun rises tomorrow, Peridot doesn’t care. They have tonight, and somehow it’s enough to let Peridot chase a fantasy in the middle of a cold reality she’ll end up facing sooner or later.


	6. Don't Wanna Know

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've given up the idea of weekly updates. As I type I'm above a club in a staff room on a break. I can hear someone being sick outside. Life is beautiful, no? 
> 
> https://whatthemillennial.tumblr.com/ 
> 
> Love, Betty

[PRESS PLAY ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANS9sSJA9Yc)

 

It had happened so fast, and at the same time like the slow motion of a movie scene. Amethyst has tried to treat this Friday night like every other night, like she hadn’t left the love of her life, and like that face wasn’t going to be gazing up at her while she played on stage before the club music started, and Amethyst wouldn’t grip those wonderful hips, dancing all night long. 

So far throughout the day it she’s held it together. She’s unpacked all the belongings Garnet and Pearl had retrieved, sitting through Garnet’s scolding on her treatment of Peridot- grilling on _why._

Amethyst has avoided answering, as well as her friends. She’s wasted sunlight wallowing in the self-pity and the guilt while she wrote song lyrics on the Temple Hub roof until it grew dark. God, the guilt is the worst thing and it pulses through her like poison.

Had she had it her way, she’d never broken up with Peridot, told her the truth and on the off chance Peridot forgave her, Amethyst would have decorated that rooftop with roses and candles, singing her a song she’d written of love, not of heartbreak.

But she’s let Peridot go, and thinks she’s never going to see her again. Well, that was until she goes outside on her break to smoke a cigarette and enjoy the cool air. She’s halfway through her nicotine fix when she hears a scene break out on Pearl’s floor, people yelling and at first she thinks it’s another bar fight until Peridot comes bursting out like a bat out of hell, dragging a girl with blue hair by the hand after her.

Their eyes had met, and Peridot looked at her like she’d seen a goddamn ghost, and honestly Amethyst guesses she shares the same expression on her face. Peridot is right in front of her and all she wants to do is reach out to her.

She distinctly notices Steven at the stairs yelling at her, something about stopping Peridot, but it falls on deaf ears as all of Amethyst’s attention is focused on the girl in front of her. She can’t help herself but reach out her hand for Peridot.

‘Peridot…’  

For one split second of hope, Peridot looks like she’d going to take her hand and come back into her life once again, even for a little while. Amethyst almost allows herself to smile, ready to pull Peridot into her arms and keep her safe from whatever the hell was going on.

But then that hope is snatched away along with Peridot, when the girl with blue hair takes Peridot’s hand and drags her away from Amethyst.

It happens so, _so_ fast that Amethyst is rooted to the spot, but she finds her voice and in desperate, hoarse voice she screams for her runaway ex-lover. 

‘Baby come back! Peridot, PERIDOT! _PERIDOT COME BACK!’_

She continues to scream, and Steven bursts out of the entrance with Lars and Sadie right behind him. They rush past Amethyst and into the dark of the city night after Peridot and the stranger. 

Not long after they’ve all disappeared in pursuit, Pearl rushes out with Garnet, who looks furious.

‘Amethyst, what’s going on?! Why the hell did I just see Steven take Pearl’s security to chase down _Peridot_ of all people!?’

Amethyst doesn’t answer right away, still staring at the space Peridot once stood but a minute ago. She’s only shaken from her trance when Pearl grabs her shoulders, practically squawking at her.

‘Amethyst wake up! What’s happened? Answer Garnet right now!’

‘I- I don’t know!’ she chokes out, ‘Peridot just appeared and Steven ran after her! I didn’t even see what happened inside!’

Pearl lets go of Amethyst and straightens up, worrying her lip in her teeth. She grabs the walkie talkie that’s attached to her left hip and speaks into it with a shaking voice.

‘I want security on my floor right now. We’ve had an incident and I want everyone cleared out for the night. Close the bars, cut the music- do it now.’ 

_‘I’m sending down Jay and Carnelian. Sweeping now, Pearl.’_

‘Thanks Connie, I’m on my way up.’

Pearl rushes off to deal with the aftermath of the riot, leaving Amethyst under the steely gaze of Garnet’s mismatched eyes, her shades removed. She’s about to say something when she spots one of the security members jogging back to join them. It’s Sadie, and Garnet’s attention is swiftly directed upon the huffing woman who looks in quite a state, red faced and bleeding from the nose.

‘Sadie, where are the others? And what happened to your _face?’_

‘W-was running after P-Peridot,’ she replies, clearly out of breath, ‘she was with some girl, and Steven yelled at us to stop them. I tried to grab the one with blue hair, and she punched me. We followed them all the way to the park, but I couldn’t quite get over the wall. Steven and Lars are still following them.’ 

Garnet listens in bewilderment, the story is wild from start to finish, and so out of character for Peridot. What was going on? She decides right now it doesn’t matter. Right now they have a club to clear out, and after that she’ll have the staff cash-up, break down each bar and sent home early. Only then will she deal with the aftermath of Steven’s commotion.

‘Alright, Sadie go and ice your nose and clock out, you’ve been a great help tonight.’

‘What about break down?’

‘Don’t worry, the others are taking care of it. You get yourself home, okay?’  

Sadie smiles gratefully, wincing from her injury.

‘Okay, thanks Garnet. I’ll see you tomorrow, bye Amethyst.’

Amethyst nods at Sadie, watching her walk back inside the club, pushing through the rowdy crowd of people that are exiting out into the street. Most are drunk, complaining their night is coming to a close, others are hurling into taxis ready for their next drinking destination. Amethyst and Garnet make sure nobody is loitering around or starts a fight, but soon enough Connie comes out to give them the all clear and takes over manning the entrance.

Garnet thanks her with a pat on the shoulder and she and Amethyst make their way back indoors. The lights in the Temple Hub have all been switched on and the music turned off, and they travel past the bartenders who are cleaning, up to Garnet’s floor where the staffroom is. Pearl is waiting for them, currently talking into her mobile on speakerphone, Steven’s voice on the other line.

‘What do you mean you lost them?’

_‘It was an accident, they went into City Park and vanished. We’re on our way back now.’_

‘Who’s with you? Send them home.’

_‘It’s just Lars, and he heard you, he’s already walking away.’_

‘Good, we’ve shut the Temple and we’re having an emergency meeting in the staffroom, I want an explanation.’

‘ _Gotcha, see you up there.’_

Pearl groans when she hangs up the call, reaching to open the fridge for a bottle of water.

‘Right…let’s all just calm down, we should wait for Steven so we can get to the bottom of this, I want to know why we had to close up and lose us our biggest cash flow of the week, _honestly_ ’.

 She throws two bottles at Garnet, catching them in each hand and passing one to Amethyst, who takes it without a word. The three of them sit down and catch their bearings, Amethyst just stares at her unopened bottle and replays the moment Peridot was less than two steps away from her. She’s lost in her own thoughts until the three of them hear heavy footsteps approach the staffroom, and Steven walks in looking worse for wear. Pearl jumps up and immediately starts to create a fuss.

‘Steven, are you okay? Why is your shirt ripped- is that mud?’

Garnet stands and puts her hand on Pearl’s shoulder, an act which will always quieten her down. She places her other hand on Steven’s upper arm, talking calmly as she can.

‘Steven, sit down and tell us exactly what happened. Why were you chasing after Peridot and that girl? I’ve never seen you scream like that, let alone cause a ruckus to shut down this entire club.’

Steven collapses down next to Amethyst on the couch, a replica of the one in the security office. He runs his hands over his bearded face, accepting the water bottle Amethyst passes him and taking a long swig.

‘Peridot came in with the girl, her name is Lapis,’ he starts after swallowing, ‘she asked to look at the footage on Garnet’s floor to see who had used the payphone earlier on, so I showed her. It was weird, they didn’t even recognise the woman on the tape! But here’s the thing, Peridot had a gun on her-‘

Amethyst jumps at that, grabbing Steven’s wrist. 

‘What gun?! She didn’t pull it out on you?!’

‘Amethyst, this is Peridot we’re talking about,’ Steven sighs, ‘she didn’t use it, of course not, but when I confronted her about it, she completely duped me! The second I turned my back she just bolts, taking Lapis with her. We tried to find them, but it was no use.’ 

Pearl and Garnet glance at each other, horrified. It seems there is something more sinister going on than they could have anticipated, and Pearl’s hands start to shake.

‘I can’t believe she was armed! Thank god we cleared the place out when we did, can you imagine what would have happened if anyone realised we had a gunman in this place?’

‘God, Pearl! Peri’s not a fucking gunman, she’s our friend! Stop being so dramatic!’

Pearl glares at Amethyst, who is fuming.  

‘It doesn’t matter who it was,’ Pearl snaps angrily, pointing a long finger in Amethyst’s face, ‘we’d never open again! Especially after that damn Malachite incident…’ 

Malachite.

Garnet’s eyebrows knit together as she thinks, trying to dot pieces of Steven’s story together while Pearl and Amethyst argue. Something feels very wrong, and if her guesses are correct then Peridot is in trouble. A _lot_ of trouble, specifically with someone she thought she’d never have to deal with again. 

‘All of you, we need to look at the security tapes,’ she commands sternly, cutting off the row. ‘Steven can you show us the footage you showed Peridot and Lapis?’

Steven jumps to her request, nodding.

‘Of course I can.’ 

The four of them make their way down and into the security office, squeezing into the small space. Pearl, Amethyst and Garnet all watch closely as Steven brings up the payphone footage, showing the short woman in the white gloves. Just like Peridot and Lapis, not a single one of them recognise her face. Garnet shakes her head.

‘Steven, show us the footage when Lapis was in this office.’

Steven does as he is asked, and when Lapis comes into view on the monitor Garnet very nearly punches her fist through the screen, and Steven and Amethyst both wince when the shouting unexpectedly starts.

‘God _damnit!’_

Everyone turns to look at Pearl, Amethyst’s eyes go wide.

‘Yo, you two know that chick?’ 

Garnet’s hands ball into fist, nodding solemnly. Pearl looks as if she might _explode_ with rage, and for once Amethyst is quite afraid of her best friend.

‘I CAN’T BELIEVE A LAZULI WAS LET INTO THIS CLUB! AND THEN YOU TWO _LET HER GET AWAY! I SWEAR WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON PERIDOT I’M GOING TO KILL HER MYSELF!‘_

‘Whoa! Pearl calm down!’

Steven stands up and tries to ease the raging club host, but Pearl pushes past him and storms out of the room, slamming the door behind her and heading off to who-knows where. There is a deathly silence and Amethyst feels petrified.

‘Garnet… please tell me she’s not a Lazuli, as in a _Lazuli.’_

 ‘Unfortunately, she is,’ Garnet confirms with a shaking voice, ’she’s one of Malachite’s sisters, and we need to find Peridot immediately _._ We can’t risk anything, I’m going to call the police.’ 

‘Wait a second, let’s not do something crazy here! We can’t just call the cops, what the heck would we tell them? Hi officers, one of our best friends is running around with a loaded gun and a criminal! We’d be throwing Peridot under a bus!’

Steven remembers the look on Peridot’s face when he threatened her with 911. He was bluffing, of course he was. He’d never do something like that- but Garnet was different. Garnet was serious.

‘Her parents are lawyers, she’ll be fine. Right now we have to think about Peridot’s safety, and while she’s in the company of a Lazuli, her odds of getting through tonight aren’t that great.’

Steven knows she’s right, but he can’t help thinking calling the police is a very, very bad idea. He starts to plead with his boss.

‘Garnet, at least let us all search for her first! We can gather a search party, but _please_ don’t call the police, I’m begging you.’

‘Yeah G,’ Amethyst chimes in, ‘I lost my girl once, and I can’t lose her again! We have to try and find her ourselves, at least. Besides these are the Lazuli sisters we’re talking about- If one of them catches wind we’ve called the fuzz on them, they’ll kill Peridot for sure!’

Amethyst has a valid point, a grim point, but valid nonetheless. Garnet realises she’s not thought this through. It’s two against one, Garnet knows they are right, though she hates to admit it. 

‘Fine, no police. But we have to move _now._ Steven, make sure all the alarms are on and I’ll find Pearl. Amethyst, you lock up and meet us outside.’

Garnet tosses her keys to Steven and leaves the room in search of Pearl. Amethyst feels sick with worry; if she regretted letting Peridot go before, she feels it stronger than ever now. She doesn’t know whether to throw up, cry, or both.

‘Hey, we’ll find her,’ Steven tries to comfort her and puts his arm around her chubby shoulders, ‘she’s just in over her head. Peridot will be fine.’ 

 Amethyst doesn’t believe a word of that. Still, she feigns a wobbly smile and attempts to look hopeful.

‘Yeah, you’re right. She’s a tough gem, I’m sure she’s…she’s fine’

….Right?


	7. Mutha Fuckin' Monsta

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter originally had a very different plot, but then last night my girlfriend attacked me with a bat at 4 AM (accidentally) and I got inspired enough to re-write a good 1/3 of it. 
> 
> Find me @ https://whatthemillennial.tumblr.com/
> 
> Love, Betty

[PRESS PLAY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOpQdJ5F5TI) 

 

At first Peridot imagines the old pool as an abandoned, creepy building that’s in the middle of demolition, like the setting in a low budget horror movie. Instead she’s pleasantly surprised to find it’s just a regular public bath, the scent of chlorine strong when they get close. It’s not a huge place, it’s rather small actually. The parking lot is empty save for one beat up minivan, and everywhere is locked up with only the spotlight on outside. Lapis seems to know exactly where to go, and exactly how to break in. Peridot follows her around the back of the building where the huge fans roar and the fire exit is located high above the flight of a metal stair way.    

The only thing in their path is a pad locked gate, but Lapis is already sliding off a concealed hair pin, quickly and efficiently picking the lock. Peridot watches in amazement as it clicks and neatly slides free from the chains in seconds. 

‘Piece of cake!’

‘That was impressive, how did you learn that?’

Lapis smiles cheekily, pushing open the gate to allow Peridot through first.

‘My mom used to lock me in my room sometimes when I pissed her off, so my sister taught me how to break out. All locks are the same, you just gotta have the technique.’

‘Your sister sounds like a real card! You’ve got to teach me.’

Lapis chuckles at the request and playfully shoves Peridot towards the stair way. She can’t help her cheeks turning a shade darker, she’s not used to such praise and it doesn’t help that it’s coming from a girl she’s undeniably attracted to. She only hopes Peridot doesn’t become an attachment, or worse, develop feelings. Lapis came to do a job, and nothing has changed.

At least, she think is hasn’t. 

Shaking her head from the distraction of her thoughts, Lapis carries on up the stair way after Peridot, who is bounding ahead. They finally reach the top and there is no problem with the lock for the fire exit either. They’re in, and Lapis breathes in the familiar scent of her childhood memories. She looks down over the viewing bay, gripping the rusty barrier pole. It’s just the same as it was before, even if the sea life mural is cracking in the paint job, and the pool is smaller than she remembers. 

It’s a shame she can’t bring herself to come by here anymore.

Overall Peridot finds the breaking and entering very underwhelming, the pool just a 50ft rectangle surrounded by a cream tile walkway. It’s kind of run down, but what grabs Peridot’s attention is the glass ceiling, and how the light of the moon reflects onto the surface of the water and causing it to shimmer, the view most captivating from where they stand. It seems the clue was oddly specific.

‘So we’re here, what now?’

Peridot says what Lapis is thinking, and she’s starting to feel agitated. Peridot suggests she should locate the main office, maybe she’ll find something there. Lapis nods in agreement, and they make their way down the rusty stairs.

‘I’ll make sure security is out, okay? Find whatever you can and if there’s a problem, use your initiative. Meet me back here in ten minutes.’

They split up and Peridot regrets it almost immediately. The building itself might not be horror movie setting, but it’s still creepy enough in the bleak darkness. She makes her way through the locker rooms and into a long corridor. For a moment she listens for Lapis, hoping to hear the comfort of her footsteps. Only a leaky pipe drips, scarcely masking the depressing silence. 

As Peridot heads down the corridor she notices there’s mini hall of fame; framed photos of past swimmers, classes and champions over the years. She stops to peer at a particular photo of what looks like Lapis’s sister, the woman in the diner. She’s much younger in the photo, however, appearing no older than 13, maybe even 15. A gold medal is hung around her neck, hair in a bob that is brown, not white. She’s beaming proudly, and Peridot glances at the silver plated placard. 

_Malachite Lazuli, gold medallist in 200mtr backstroke, 2001_

Lazuli. So that was Lapis’s last name. Lapis Lazuli.

Peridot giggles, supposing she should have guessed- it suits her companion. Finally she moves on through to the end of the corridor, spotting a door almost concealed by shadows. Getting closer she sees there are words printed on the dull wood, eventually making out what it says.

_STAFF OFFICE_

Bingo.

Peridot tries to turn the handle, but of course, this door is locked too. Peridot might not have Lapis’s cat-burglar skills, but she doesn’t need them. The wood is soft, chipped and worn down. Peridot brings up her right leg and slams her foot against the door with all her might. It only takes three solid kicks, and the door bursts open. 

The office itself is cramped and dusty, filled with boxes and files and overflowing waste paper baskets. Peridot looks for anything that might give her a clue of why they’re here, but mostly it’s just old junk. Feeling defeated Peridot sits in one of the office chairs, creaking under her weight and looks up to the noticeboard, crammed in layers of old pictures, post it notes and newspaper cut outs. 

Then something catches the corner of Peridot’s eye, right in the middle of a crossword and a postcard. It’s another newspaper clipping, but it’s the headline that makes her stop still.

‘’MOONLIGHT SIRENS’’ MIDNIGHT MURDER AT LOCAL POOL  

Funny, didn’t the riddle mention something about moonlight and sirens?

Curious, Peridot gently tugs the clipping off the board and starts to read the article

_At 12 AM on Tuesday night, police received a 911 distress call from Empire City Olympic Pool where an attempted murder took place. Police arrived on the scene to find the body of 19 year old Kevin Platt who was brutally beaten and drowned. The scene of the crime, which is a poplar venue for locals and athletes, has been closed off until further notice. Police have arrested two young women and one under temporary protection while in questioning. The search continues for three more suspects in connection with the crime. Empire City officials are yet to release a full statement._

_Pictured below is Holly B. Agate, 18 (far left) and Natalie ‘Navy’ Jacobs, 19 (right), both were arrested early Wednesday morning. The pair were members of the Moonlight Sirens, reigning team of the state aquatic community._

Peridot realises she’s been gripping the paper tight between her fingers and looks down at the image below the article. It’s a picture of the two teenagers in blue tracksuits, one of them holding the hand of a little girl with a face Peridot takes a second to recognise, blinking a few times in disbelief. She’s about to tear through the desk for more information when she hears something.  

Footsteps.

Peridot folds the paper and shoves it into her pocket. Getting up from the chair she listens hard, keeping quiet.

For a moment Peridot thinks she’s imagined it, but suddenly there is again. The heavy sound of boots treading on the tiled floor. Last time she checked Lapis had been wearing worn out sneakers. Peridot swallows thickly, crouching down behind the busted door and peeking out through the crack.

She watches as a tall shadowy figure appears at the end of the corridor and Peridot feels herself go stiff when she sees none other than Sugilite round the corner, carrying a huge machete which she drags along the wall like nails on chalkboard. Peridot wince at the sound.

Sugilite is even scarier than Peridot remembers her; she’s way taller than Garnet and built like a house. She looks like Nicki Minaj met the Terminator; glamorous but terrifying. Peridot knows she’s looking for them, feeling like an idiot not to acknowledge a hitman would _actually_ be on their asses.

Oh god, Lapis. She needs to find Lapis!

While she hides Peridot tries to think of plan, and she’ll have to be quick about it since the only way out is back through the men’s locker rooms, and that is right in the middle of her hiding place and Sugilite’s machete.

Trying to keep as quiet as possible, Peridot channels every inch of whatever stealth she has and backs up from the door, getting to her feet and looking around the room to see what she’s got to work with.

Like a sign from god she notices a lever for the fire alarm right above the light switch. She doesn’t have time to re-think her options and pulling the gun from her pocket at the ready, she slams her hand against the red button, the entire building screeching under the alarm. 

For a precious few moments Sugilite is caught off guard, unsure of what’s happening, and that’s when Peridot takes her one chance to escape. Hurtling out of the office she skids down the hall and towards the locker room door, but Sugilite spots her instantly and all hell breaks loose.   

‘Well _hello_ princess!’

Peridot screams as she narrowly misses decapitation from one swing of Sugilite’s deadly blow- ducking through the doors and as fast as she can through to the pool, bellowing Lapis’s name at the top of her lungs.

‘LAPIS! LAPIS, RUN!’

Peridot rushes back to the pool area, and by every mercy in the world Lapis is back up on the viewing bay, thoroughly soaked and putting something in her backpack. She looks over the barrier when Peridot rushes in, and she’s about to yell something back, but there is no time and Peridot screams.

‘SHE FOUND US!’    

 

***

 

As Peridot saunters off on detective mode, Lapis has every intention of heading out the other side to find, and shut down any security cameras. Including any actual guards who might be prowling about. Unfortunately she doesn’t get very far, stopping still when her phone starts to ring.  

UNKNOWN NUMBER

She waits a few beats of her heart before answering, having a strong inkling of who is on the other line.

_‘Hello L_008! Well done, you’re here! Now, are you ready to complete the first stage of your challenge?’_

Lapis’s suspicions are correct, that eerie childlike voice practically singing down the line to her. She doesn’t like where this is going, especially now Peridot is out of her sight. But she has to clear this checkpoint, regardless.

‘Sure, what do I have to do?’

_‘This task is simple, retrieve the prize and leave alive!’_

‘Retrieve what prize? Where can I find it?’

_‘The prize for your partner’s eyes! Try using your own. Good luck, L_008!’_

The line goes dead, the dial up tone telling her the number out of service. Lapis taps the head of her phone thoughtfully against her chin, wondering what the fuck that lady was talking about. She checks the text with the clue again. 

DIVE INTO ME, YOU’RE MY PREY, BUT I’M SO TEMPTING YOU CAN’T STAY AWAY.  GLISTENING IN THE MOONLIGHT LIKE A SIRENS CALL, TAKE THE RISK AND LET YOURSELF FALL.

Oh, for fucks sake.

Edging closer to the pool’s edge Lapis scours the water, squinting in her search. It doesn’t help that the moon is a distracting dance of light on the surface, but eventually she finds what she’s looking for. It’s dark and dull, but Lapis sees it.

It’s in the deep end. In a pool with lots of water. In _the deep end._

Lapis hasn’t swam in years, never wanted to. Even baths that go past her shoulders can be a nightmare- _this_ is a nightmare.

_No,_ Lapis tells herself, _I’m not a child anymore, I can do this. I can do this I can do this I can do this-_

Lapis chants this to herself over and over, pulling off her plaid jacket and bag hurriedly, closing her eyes and diving in before she can think twice about it.

The water is freezing and dark underneath. Lapis opens her eyes and her fear consumes her at once. She fights her way to the surface, coughing and sucking in a breath of air. She struggles afloat and everything is so overwhelming, the feeling of the water lapping at her chin and the taste of the chemicals on her lips.

‘Oh fuck, fuck, fuck, _fuck!’_

Lapis can feel the pricking of hot tears in her eyes, the worst moment of her childhood rushing back to her as she floats in the bottomless pool. She looks up to the ceiling where the moon is, seeming even bigger tonight. It’s like a beacon, full and illuminating her wet face. She tries to remember that this is just a test, it’s just a game. Lapis signed up for this and now she has to get it done.

Eventually she stops flailing and tries a few strokes forward, trying to feel and not think. It’s like getting back on a bicycle. Beckoning up old roots of her memory; the flashes of gliding through this pool like a fish all come back to her, the joy she felt as a child and the image of her sister at the other end cheering on her on.

She’s still scared, absolutely terrified. But Lapis keeps herself together when she dips her head under, swimming further underwater. Panic is welling up in her chest, the need to open her mouth and scream- but she forces it down and wills herself to search.

The object she spotted before is only a few strokes away, floating in the water and attached to some sort of line that connects to the pool floor. Lapis swims closer and realises it’s a box, burry in detail but there is a white little pad on the front of it with numbers she can just about make out.

Lapis swears profanities in her head, wondering what the code could be. She’s losing time, her lungs are running out of air. The panic is settling in now, and bubbles of air escape her lips.

Shit, shit, shit. What could it be?  

Lapis tries the date she won her first gala, her proudest moment. The pad flashes red, making a dull sound. 

Lapis attempts to code out Neon Devils. The pad flashes red, wrong again.

She’s about to pass out.

Lapis tries the date of the night Kevin was murdered.

The pad flashes green and the chain breaks away from the box. Lapis doesn’t waste a second before returning back to the surface with her victory, breaking out of the water with a spluttering gasp, her lungs on fire and her body almost numb. But she’s done it. She’s done it! 

Swimming to the pool’s edge and hitching herself out, Lapis takes a longer look at the box. It’s a plain, metal casket that is bolted tight, specifically to outsmart Lapis’s lock picking skills. The woman on the phone told Lapis it was for Peridot to open, and Lapis guesses it’s connected to their next task.

Lapis throws her jacket over her shivering body and grabs her bag, heading back up to the viewing bay and away from the pool. While she starts to put the box away, Lapis decides to look for her partner who has clearly been on a wild goose chase; but she barely has time to act on that plan when the entire building goes up in the blasting of the fire alarm. Somebody must have triggered it, and the culprit is screaming Lapis’s name all the way from the locker rooms.

‘LAPIS! LAPIS, RUN!’ 

Peridot bursts into the pool, gun in her hand and rushing up to the viewing bay. Lapis is about to yell at her, but Peridot screams again, her voice echoing and bouncing off the walls.

‘SHE FOUND US!’

It takes a second to realise who Peridot means, watching the girl rush up the rusty stairs like her life depends on it.

Oh.

Sugilite.

Oh no.

Lapis barely has chance to collect herself as Sugilite herself practically kicks the locker room door down and spots them up the viewing bay. A horrible, toothy grin spreads up her face and moves fast towards them.

‘Hey there small fry’s! Why don’t you stay and play with me?!’  

Lapis snatches the gun from Peridot’s hand’s and snaps into action, shooting at Sugilite with expert precision, and the bounty hunter screams when a bullet blasts off the side of her ear.

‘YOU LITTLE FUCK! I’M GOING TO ENJOY SLICING YOU UP!’

‘Lapis, come on!’ 

Lapis shoots one more time, bullet bouncing off metal, and then let’s Peridot grab her hand and haul her out of the fire escape and down the stairwell, practically tripping over each other to get away. Sugilite is hot on their tail, and Lapis is about to head for the gate when Peridot drags her in the direction of the car park.

‘What are you doing?!’

‘I have an idea!’

The minivan is still where they last saw it and Peridot rushes up to the driver’s side, tugging at the door handle. For once there is no lock standing in her way and she rips off the plastic door of the steering wheel to find the wires. Quickly she identifies the chords of the battery and ignition, sparking them together the van roars to life.   

With a triumphant smile that is short lived with Sugilite not but ten feet away from them, she jumps into the van and slams the door, Lapis scrambling into the passenger seat beside her.  

‘Leaving so soon? WHY NOT STAY A WHILE!’

Lapis swears loudly when Sugilite’s machete hits the passenger side window, causing it to smash into pieces and Lapis tries to shield herself from the large shards of flying glass. She’s still got the gun and fires at Sugilite before the bounty hunter makes another blow to the van, missing her head by an inch. Peridot puts the vehicle in reverse, adjusts the gear and slams down on the pedals to hurtle the van towards the fence.

‘Brace yourself!’

There is a mighty crash as Peridot drives the van through the brittle barrier, mowing it down. They swerve onto the road and drive quickly away from the pool and from Sugilite, who stands at the destroyed barrier and watches them go. 

Lapis looks out of the window behind her, but Sugilite is long gone. She falls back into the stained fabric seat and tries to catch her breath.

Peridot’s knuckles are white as she grips the wheel, still recovering from very nearly meeting her death at 22 years of age. She looks over to Lapis who is breathing hard, her eyes are closed and she’s clutching the gun to her chest. She’s still soaking wet, except for her jacket and bleeding where a shard of glass has cut a deep gash in her cheek.

‘Lapis, are you okay?’

‘Y-yeah, I’m fine! God, that was close.’

Despite herself Peridot laughs, probably from the shock.

‘Too close, that clod nearly decapitated me- do you think it was a trap? We didn’t even find out if there was a task!’

‘Oh no, there was a task alright,’ Lapis says grimly, ‘the sadistic bastards made sure of that.’

‘Wait, is that why you’re all wet? What happened?’

They stop at a red light, and Lapis pulls up her bag to take out the metal box. Peridot peers at it, knitting her brows together.

‘What is it?’

‘It was part of the task,’ Lapis tell hers, ‘it was locked to a chain under the pool…I had to release it through a code.’ 

The red light turns green and they’re driving again, Peridot is full of questions but she doesn’t know where to start. She can feel Lapis watching her to say something, anything.  Peridot keeps to the road, her main focus to get them somewhere safe, putting as much distance between them and Sugilite.

She hates herself that she ever thought this was good idea. She’s caused a scene in her ex-‘s club, very nearly had her head separated from her shoulders, broken into a public pool and stolen a mini-van.

‘Oh god,’ she moans, ‘I’m going to die! I’m going to go to jail and I’m going to die in jail!’  

‘Shut up, Peridot. You’re not going to die,’ Lapis sighs, wincing as she inspects her cheek, ‘and nobody is going to jail. We involve the police or let alone get arrested, and _then_ we’re dead.’

‘It seems we’re dead no matter what we do.’

‘No we’re not, we’re going to figure this out, okay? Look, it’s already 10:30! We’ve only got til tomorrow night to finish the challenge and then we’re home free! Just think of the money, okay?’

‘It’s not about the money anymore!’ Peridot starts to yell, her eyes drifting from the road and onto Lapis, ‘this is bigger than the both of us, and we’re dealing with criminals and hitman who want to _kill us!’_

‘Peridot-’

‘Not to mention my friends probably think _I’m_ a criminal too!’

‘No, Peridot-!  

‘And another thing-‘

‘PERIDOT THE ROAD!’  

Peridot stops her rant and looks to where Lapis is pointing with a look of terror on her face, and turns her attention back to where she’s lost her concentration, accidently swerving towards the wrong side of the road and there is on-coming traffic hurtling towards the van.

‘SHIT!’

Twisting the wheel right, Peridot violently swerves back to the left side of the road, narrowly missing a fatal head on crash with another car and somebody honks their horn furiously at them- Lapis is nearly thrown from her seat, whacking her head against the dashboard with a loud crack.

‘Oh god, are you okay? Lapis, are you alright?!’

Lapis moans out in the pain, feeling like someone has hit her with a sledgehammer and puts her hand to her forehead.

‘Ow…’

‘I’m so sorry!’

‘Forget Sugilite, you’re going to end up killing us,’ she says, groaning some more, ‘do you know where you’re going?’

‘Somewhere safe, I promise. Just hold on.’

Lapis rolls her eyes. She slumps in her seat to look out the broken window, the cool wind soothing her throbbing head.

‘I’ll certainly try to, Fast and Furious…’


	8. I Won't Be (The One)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright gang, this is the last chapter for a week or so because I'm heading up to New Orleans to meet my niece- I'M AN AUNT YALL. 
> 
> Also shout out to all of you that have left kudos and sent me the most lovely messages to send me to tears (literally. I've cried so much this week. Mostly about the baby, but yah.) 
> 
> You lot know where to find me @https://whatthemillennial.tumblr.com/ 
> 
> Love, Betty

[PRESS PLAY](https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjwzfD9nJjVAhUkK8AKHZaRAXcQyCkIKTAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D5bA7nrdVEqE&usg=AFQjCNGYwJwnTfw-BVPZhi_YHv9N4NE-NA)

_‘_ _Peridot? You home, baby?’_

_Amethyst walks into Peridot’s apartment with a bag of groceries in one arm, guitar case in the other. She can hear the shower running, and Peridot calls out from the bathroom._

_‘I’ll be right out!’_

_Amethyst starts to put away food in the fridge after setting the instrument down, hearing Peridot turning off the shower, appearing from the screen wrapped in a towel. Amethyst turns around to smile at her girlfriend, but when she turns around and see Peridot’s appearance she drops a tub ice cream on the floor, jaw hanging open._

_‘What happened to your_ hair _?’_

_‘I cut it! I may have dyed it as well- what? You don’t like it?’_

_Peridot stands in front of Amethyst, scratching the back of her head awkwardly where long, brown locks used to flow down to her waist. Now it’s a bottle blonde pixie cut, and Amethyst has to take a second to adjust to the dramatic change._

_‘No, no! I think it’s… actually pretty cute.’_

_Peridot smiles shyly._

_‘You think so?’_

_Amethyst extends an arm towards Peridot, ‘of course I do, c’mere babes.’_

_Peridot giggles and walks into her girlfriends waiting arms who tugs the towel away playfully down to her middle. Amethyst runs her hands up Peridot’s exposed sides, past thin shoulders and tangling her fingers in the short cut._

_It actually really suits Peridot, framing her pretty, pointed face that always had been shaped awkwardly by her heavy bangs. It exposes her slim neck and elf-like ears, the blonde shade contrasting nicely against Peridot olive skin._

_‘You know, it makes you look_ incredibly _sexy.’_

_Peridot’s nose crinkles up as she laughs, and Amethyst’s heart beats a little faster. She pulls Peridot closer with her hands squeezing the thick of her hips, the towel falling from her body to the ground._

_‘I’m sexy huh?’_

_‘I’d find you sexy even if you even if you got a mullet and dyed it green!’_

_Peridot laughs even harder, winding her arms around her girlfriend’s shoulders to kiss her, smiling against her full lips._

_‘Careful there, you might put ideas into my head!’_

_‘Who, me? Never!’_

_The couple kisses again, and again, Amethyst backing Peridot up to the counter and completely forgetting about the melting ice cream on the kitchen floor._

_‘I love you, Peri.’_

_‘I love you too, weirdo.’_

‘Hey, Amethyst?’  

Amethyst jumps back to reality, Steven lightly touching her shoulder and looking down at her with concern written across his face.

‘Oh, yeah I’m fine.’

‘You seemed pretty out of it there,’ Steven remarks with raised eyebrows, ‘anything you want to talk about?’

‘No,’ Amethyst says with a heavy heart, rubbing her neck, ‘I’m just…worried about Peri, y’know?’

Steven sighs, glancing across the road before they cross at the intersection.

‘What’s going on with you two anyway? I thought you were happy together.’

‘We were…’

‘But..? C’mon Ame, talk to me.’

Amethyst chews her lip, hesitant to answer. Eventually she decides she has to talk about it, even if is just to Steven. She felt like she was dying inside, and even if it wouldn’t make the problem go away, she could at least heave it off her chest.

‘If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell Garnet or Pearl- especially not Pearl.’

‘I’d never tell anybody anything out of confidence, you know that.’

Amethyst shoots Steven a tiny, tired smile. She does know that, Steven is the most trustworthy friend she’s ever had.

Ha. Trust....if only she had some of that goodness in her. The smile fades away, and they pause to stop on the edge of the street corner.

‘I did something I shouldn’t have, and I would give anything to take it back.’

‘Amethyst…?’

‘I- I cheated on her,’ she blurts out, ‘that’s why I broke up with her, because I slept with somebody else.’

Steven is, in a word, shocked. He hadn’t been expecting to hear that.  

‘You cheated on Peridot? W-why? Were you drunk? Not that it’s an excuse! Does she know?’

Amethyst shakes her head and they carry on walking, rounding the corner to make it onto China Town, alive and bright with the red lanterns and busy restaurants.

‘No, we got into a massive argument and I was just angry, you know? It wasn’t with anyone I knew, a girl from Vidalia’s coffee place. I didn’t tell Peridot because it would destroy her, so I ended things by telling her I wasn't feeling it anymore.’

‘Jeez, and _that_ didn’t hurt her enough? Peridot’s going to find out eventually. You know that, right? She deserves to know the truth.’

‘I know. I’ll tell her… just, I wish I knew where she was. She’s not even answering her phone! Can you try calling her?’

Steven nods, taking out his phone and scrolling down to his contacts to find Peridot’s log.

‘Yep, but it keeps going to voicemail, and not a single one of my texts are being received!’

Suddenly Amethyst’s suspicions grow, wondering that maybe Peridot wasn’t choosing not to answer her phone, but that she couldn’t. Maybe the phone has been stolen, or even tampered with.

‘Hey, Steven, you wouldn’t happen to know where Ronaldo works now, do you? I think I know how we can find Peridot!'


	9. Can't Be Found With You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So as it turns out, unlike the hospital (where I have stewed with my sister and the baby for three days) Her house has wifi, and you know what that means! Early chapter, with one of my favourite songs on earth. I think I've got a thing for British bands. 
> 
> WARNING; this chapter contains themes of murder and trauma. 
> 
> You know where to find me @ https://whatthemillennial.tumblr.com/
> 
> Love, Betty.

[PRESS PLAY ](https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwio0amqy6DVAhXsKMAKHYn2A7YQyCkIKTAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DBsYE078RQCI&usg=AFQjCNHfrMrQP4oPyIMoapguwVRyLnHz3g)

Peridot knows full well that going back to her apartment is risky, but Lapis is probably concussed and they need supplies for the next few hours. The rest of the drive since the near killer car-crash has been much calmer, and Peridot can see her graffiti painted building come into view. She reverses into the car-park that she never uses, cutting the ignition. Lapis has been dozing and Peridot gives her shoulder a gentle shake.

‘Hey, sleepy. We’re here.’

‘Mm, where are we?’

‘My apartment building,’ Peridot replies as Lapis stretches and blinks herself awake. She processes what Peridot says, appearing disturbed.

‘Peridot, we can’t stay at your apartment- we’ll be found there. We need to go someplace else.’

‘No, you’re injured and in need of a change of clothes. Plus we can make a proper plan of action, I refuse to run around this city anymore without some sort of strategy. We have to be one step ahead of these people, understand?’

Lapis’s argument dies in her throat. Once again, Peridot’s right. They can’t keep acting like prey. Her head is killing her, her cheek still stings and not to mention her clothes are starting to reek from the chlorine.

‘Alright, but we gotta be quick.’

She tries to sit up and for a moment Lapis thinks she’s okay, hauling on her bag. She pushes open the car door, taking one step out and suddenly the world spins and she loses all feeling in her head. To Peridot’s horror Lapis falls out of the van like a rag doll, grunting quietly.

‘ _Lapis_!’

Peridot scrambles out of the vehicle and rushes to Lapis’s aid, the girl groaning on the concrete with her back against the tyre.

‘M’fine,’ she mumbles, clearly not fine. Peridot kneels to her level and gently takes Lapis’s cheek in her hand, lifting her head up.

‘Hey, Lapis c’mon, open your eyes.’

It takes some coaxing but eventually Lapis’s lids lift open, her blue eyes dull and blood-shot. Peridot inspects Lapis’s bruised, bloodied face. Her forehead is starting to swell and the gash on her cheek still has splinters of glass stuck in the skin. Peridot feels her stomach twist. This isn’t good.

‘You’re going to be fine, okay? Listen to me, now. I’m going to haul you up on the count of three, okay? Lapis?’

‘Y-yeah, I heard you.’

‘Alright, ready? One, two, _three!’_

She locks her arms around the injured girl’s back under her arm pits, pulling up Lapis’s weight against her body with all her strength. Lapis grips onto Peridot’s denim-clad shoulders, knees buckling when she pushes up her legs but Peridot holds on, refusing to let her fall.

‘I got you, I got you. Here, put your arms around me.’

It’s almost a comical sight, Lapis is a good head taller than Peridot and slumps over her tiny body like a sack of beat up potatoes. Peridot huffs and struggles under the weight but doesn’t let that stop her. The rag-tag pair hobble over the car park elevator, Peridot pressing the up button to summon their ride up.

It takes them a good ten minutes to get into Peridot’s studio, but they make it. Peridot unlocks the huge door, stumbling in. She guides Lapis over to the bed and helps her lie down, Lapis groans, blood rushing to her head painfully as it hits the pillow.

‘Shh, shhh, you’re alright.’ 

Peridot leaves Lapis to rest for a few minutes while she rushes around the apartment, making sure to bolt the front door tight and shove the bookcase up against it. Then she goes into the kitchen, taking out a first aid kit from under the sink. She runs the tap to fill up a glass of water and soak a flannel.  

Returning to the bed she finds Lapis trying to wake herself up, one hand touching her forehead and hissing at the pain that follows. Peridot rolls her eyes and sits beside the girl, placing the glasses on the side and opening up the kit.

‘If you touch it you’re only going to make it worse.’

‘Ugh, what’s the damage?’

‘Well, you’re not going to be winning beauty contests any time soon, that’s for sure.’

‘Ah, my dreams of being pageant queen, crushed.’ 

Peridot smiles fondly at how Lapis can joke even in this state. She takes out a packet of aspirin and pops two pills into her hand.

‘Here, take these.’

Lapis accepts the pills and swallows them down with the glass of water Peridot holds out. She watches with half lidded eyes as Peridot takes the cold flannel and presses it to her forehead, the coldness so soothing and Lapis sighs out in relief.

‘I’m going to have to remove the glass from your face and stich you up,’ Peridot admits softly, ‘you going to be brave for me?’

‘Do what you gotta do.’

It hurts like a bitch when Peridot tweezes the little shards out of her face, and Lapis squeezes her eyes shut tight, gripping the sheets and tries not to call her nurse degrading names. To her relief the worst is over when Peridot pulls out the fifth and final shard. Antiseptic cream is smothered over Lapis’s injury, almost numbing the right of her face which helps when Peridot starts to weave black thread through her skin with a sharp needle and hook.  

Lapis doesn’t feel much pain anymore, the drugs easing her head and the feeling in her face gone. She re-opens her eyes to look up at Peridot’s close face, cute as ever but tight in concentration. Lapis can’t help herself, she smiles.

Peridot notices, but she doesn’t pause her work. 

‘What are you grinning about? Still out of it?’

‘Nah… but, you know, no doctor has ever been this gentle with me before. You really know what you’re doing.’ 

‘It comes with practice,’ Peridot smirks, ‘the skill of medicine is invaluable- ah, there we go, all done.’

She cuts away the excess thread and packs away the supplies. Lapis tries to sit up again, and this time she’s successful. The flannel falls from her face so she sets it on the bedside table, noticing the Camp Pining Hearts mug. Huh, it seems she wasn’t the only one who liked that dumb show. 

‘Thanks for that.’

Peridot shrugs.

‘I was the one who nearly killed you, it was least I could do.’

Lapis laughs softly, stiches straining. She notices only now how close she is to Peridot, and she can’t stop herself from heating up when Peridot leans closer like she was going to make a move.

Peridot is an inch away from Lapis’s face and sniffs her, wrinkling her nose.

‘You my friend, fucking stink.’

Oh. Right, the chlorine. Lapis feels embarrassed for the first time in Peridot’s presence, chuckling nervously. Peridot shakes her head, but not unkindly.

‘Take a shower and I’ll find you some clothes.’

‘Uh, okay. Thanks, again.’  

Peridot helps her off the bed, scoffing at her.

‘Just get in the shower, Gollum.’ 

‘Yes, alright mom!’ 

The water feels amazing on her aching body, the windows steaming up as Lapis cranks up the heat so her skin tingles. Washing away the dirt and the chemicals is therapeutic, and Lapis dares let herself relax, even with the ever present danger that steps on her shadow. She wants to switch off her mind and live in the shower forever, listen to the water and the sound of Peridot shuffling about the studio behind the screen that separates them.

Peridot.

What a subject. Peridot.

Lapis had been prepared, she had it all planned out. Play the game, win the game, and leave her partner hanging with a bullet in their brain with their cut of the cash in the back of somebody else’s car. That was the plan, and now it’s ruined.

It’s fucking ruined because now she’s in this strange position where she cares about the one person she’s planned to treat like means to an end. She hates herself for caring, even just a little bit. Peridot is strong, she’s smart and she’s healed Lapis’s wounds and made her feel like she means something, like Lapis is worth saving. Peridot is a complication, a problem. She’s a thorn in the side, and Lapis wants to tear out her hair about it.

This fucking Diamond girl is going to be her downfall, and Lapis knows it.  She knows it and she accepts it.

She is without a doubt, screwed.

***

While Lapis is showering, Peridot takes the liberty of rummaging through clothes and tries to find something that will fit Lapis’s tall body. It takes a minute or two, but finally manages to pull out a faded pair of black jeans and one of Peridot’s old band T-shirts, blue with the navy font that reads out WATER WITCH. She sets them by the bathroom screen along with a clean bra and underwear, drying out Lapis’s sneakers on the radiator.

Peridot needs to get organised, something she’s glad she has her mom’s natural instincts for. In a matter of time she’s already packed up medical supplies, water bottles and the biggest knife she can find from her kitchen drawers.

Stashing it all away her small metallic bag she can’t ignore that her eyes are killing her, the contacts she put this morning dry and itchy. Replacing them with her glasses is a relief, and she decides to match that comfort with a change of clothes.

A pair of black leggings and cropped hooded sweater later, she’s taken out the new article from her denim jacket and thinking about the box in Lapis’s backpack.

The water is still running so Peridot doesn’t waste time. Unzipping the grey bag that’s next to her drawers Peridot finds two more loaded guns, extra bullets, wallet, Nokia brick phone, and under it all is the metal box.

Peridot holds it in her hands, wondering what was inside, and more importantly how Lapis knew the code in the first place. She’s so engrossed in her own thoughts she hasn’t realised that Lapis has turned off the shower and is only a few feet away, dressed in the clothes Peridot left out.

‘Robbing me now, Specs?’

Peridot jumps almost violently. 

‘I wasn’t doing anything, I swear!’

Lapis doesn’t seem to mind and even smiles when she comes up to Peridot, only stopping cold when she spots the news article on the sheets.

‘Where did you get that?’

She asks Peridot coldly, almost like an accusation with a steely expression on her face, but Peridot won’t let herself be bullied, and she keeps her cool.

‘I got it from the office, I see what the clue meant by Moonlight Sirens.’

Lapis inches closer.

‘Anything else you found while snooping?’ 

‘This was all I needed to find, I suppose it’s also the reason why you knew the code for this box. Want to start explaining, Lazuli?’

‘I don’t have to explain shit to you.’

‘Oh yes you do! Trust, remember?’

‘My past has nothing to do with trust, or anything to do with you!’

Lapis becomes defensive, clenching her fists. Peridot can see she’s getting riled up, and while she’s tempted to push Lapis’s buttons they can’t afford to get into another smack down. She tries a different approach.

_Be gentle, Peridot._

She backs up from Lapis and sits down on the bed, guard lowered.

‘I don’t want to fight with you, Lapis. I just want to understand, please?’

Lapis takes a few beats, trying to assess if Peridot’s sincerity is genuine. When she finds no foul her expression falters, fists unclenching slowly.

‘You’d only judge me.’

‘That’s what you’re afraid of?’

‘I’m _not_ afraid of your judgment.’  

‘You’re afraid of something else?’

Peridot pats the space beside her, inviting Lapis to sit. Reluctantly Lapis does as requested and looks straight ahead. Peridot does not push, allowing Lapis to take her time. There is a long, pregnant silence.

‘I was only ten when it happened,’ Lapis starts in a quiet voice, ‘and I’d just joined the Moonlight Sirens. My sister Malachite was the team captain and she had invited her boyfriend to co-coach the team.’

She swallows.

‘He was called Kevin, and while he was stuck up and rude, he was always kind to me. Too kind. One night he asked me if I wanted to train with me after hours, just me and him.’

Peridot does not like where this story is going, wringing her hands together tight.

‘I was young and stupid, so of course I said yes. I wanted to be the best, and I thought he only wanted to help me. I snuck out of the house and went to meet him, and at first he did train me for a couple of hours to gain my trust. Once he had it that was it. I didn’t even know what was happening until he’d got a hold of my neck and dragged me under, I realised he was trying to kill me.’

‘Jesus, Lapis…’

‘Fortunately Malachite and her friends had come looking for me, and I managed to scream before I went under. Before I knew it her friends Holly and Navy had pulled him away, and I just got out of the pool and ran. I was so, so scared. I didn’t know what to do, so I called the police. I told them someone had tried to kill me, but it turned out Kevin ended winding up dead.’

Lapis pauses for breath and inhales through her nose, rubbing at her wrist.

‘Holly and Navy got ten years for first degree murder, but they never made it past six weeks. My sister had them murdered behind bars before they could rat her out. Malachite was a powerful person then. Still is now.’

Peridot has to ask.

‘Why did she-‘

‘Kill them?’ Lapis laughs darkly, ‘funny thing that. It turns out as they got older, my sister and her goons used the team as a cover. They became a gang of drug dealers, they got a rep and the city under their shoe. My sister was their boss and Kevin had been a part of it, for a time. One day Malachite decided she didn’t need him anymore, and in retaliation he tried to take away the one thing she loved most. Me.’

Lapis takes another, shuddering gasp for breath.

‘And now I’m Kevin’s fucking replacement. I’m part of my sister’s hell fire of a world and I can’t ever escape… the things I’ve seen, the things I’ve _done.’_

By now Lapis is gripping her elbows and her head is downcast, like she wants to disappear. Peridot is truly shaken, horrified by the traumatic tale Lapis has shared with her. A part of Peridot feels a sickened, guilty from how she demanded Lapis to re-live those memories.  

‘Oh Lapis, I’m so, _so_ sorry…’

She reaches out and tries to place a comforting hand on Lapis’s knee, but Lapis jerks away like she’s been scolded, jumping to her feet.

‘Don’t you dare do that!’ she sneers, ‘don’t you pity me! _People were_ _killed because of me!’_

‘I- I’m not pitying you!’

‘Then don’t tell me you’re fucking sorry when you’re not, cause nobody else sure as hell isn’t!’

‘I’m sorry you had to endure what you did,’ Peridot says in a shaking voice, ‘and I’m sorry I don’t know how you feel, cause if I did I’d imagine I’d feel pretty angry too. But what I’m most sorry about is that I forced your privacy to become my business, it wasn’t my right.’

‘No. It wasn’t.’

Lapis looks away, scowling, but Peridot can see the sadness in her eyes and her shoulders have slumped in defeat. Peridot stands up without a word and does the only thing she can think of. She hugs Lapis.

Lapis is rooted to the ground, speechless. A part of her wants to shove Peridot away and put up her walls, but Peridot’s arms are tight around her waist, head resting against her chest and holding on like she will never let go. It feels like some sort of truth. It feels like security. 

It feels like somebody cares. Selflessly, genuinely _cares_.

Peridot is almost sure she’s going to get punched when she throws herself at the emotional woman, but to her surprise she can feel Lapis’s heart beat faster, and her exposed, tattooed arms wrap around her body, one hand tangling into her blonde locks to cradle her head. She can feel Lapis’s face buried in her hair, lips pressing against the crown. They hold onto each-other like lovers would, and just for a second Lapis pretends that they are.  

Lapis mumbles, ‘why are you being so good to me? I don’t deserve it.’ 

‘Everyone deserves to be cared for, and I care about you.’

Lapis holds her tighter, maybe a little too tight, but Peridot doesn’t mind.

‘I wish we could have met differently.’

‘Oh, so the machete-wielding maniac isn’t romantic enough for you?’

‘Actually, the creepy girl on the phone really turned me on!’

Lapis starts spluttering with laughter, her grip loosens and Peridot laughs with her. They become almost hysterical, supporting each-other just to stand as tears gather in the corners of their eyes. Peridot is about to combust with Lapis howling against her, and they don’t notice the box is starting to make a beeping noise.

It’s almost too late when Lapis finally hears it and glances up. She stops laughing, her eyes wide.

‘Get down!’

‘Lapis, what-?’

Peridot yelps as Lapis tackles her to the ground, shielding her as the box screeches and they brace themselves for the bomb.

_POP!_

At least, Lapis thought it was a bomb.

She lifts her head and looks over her shoulder to see that the box did not in fact explode, but it has simply sprung open, the bolts clattering to the floor.

_They fucking duped us. Assholes!_

‘Lapis,’ Peridot huffs, ‘get off of me, you clod!’

Oh, right.

Lapis quickly lifts herself up from Peridot and goes to inspect the contents of the box. Inside there is a little envelope with Peridot’s username printed on the front. Lapis really doesn’t want to know what’s inside, but she passes it to Peridot anyway.

‘I’d open that with caution, if I were you.’

‘I think we’re past that now.’ 

Peridot tears open the envelope, Lapis watching for her reaction. She takes out a blue business card, and when she reads it all the colour drains from her face and her shaking hands drop the card.

‘Oh, _oh my god.’_

‘Shit, Peridot what is it?’

Lapis ducks down to sweep up the card, wondering what was on it to rip out such a reaction. She reads the gold font quickly. 

_ZIRCON LAWFIRM – PRACTICTING SOLICITORS EST. 2005 – TEL: 1379 0069 392_

Peridot is practically in tears by now, looking like she might throw up.

‘The sick clods, they’re going to go after my Mom’s!’   


	10. Carpet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I leave New Orleans tomorrow, my sister is a great mom. One last chapter before I get on the plane tomorrow evening. Now, speaking of mothers.... 
> 
> You know where to find me @ https://whatthemillennial.tumblr.com/ 
> 
> Love, Betty

[PRESS PLAY ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IfWW-3r7vM)

_‘Mommy, mommy wake up!’_

_Blake stirs, her eyes fluttering open. It’s the middle of the night, 2.45 AM to be exact. She’s groggy and it takes a moment to focus on the little girl standing by her beside, using her small hands to shake her shoulder._

_‘Mm, Peridot? Darling what is it?’_

_‘I had a nightmare.’_

_‘Oh, sweetness. Come here.’_

_Blake sits up and reaches down to pull Peridot into her lap on the bed, cradling her daughter. Beside them sleeps Yvonne, snoring softly._

_‘Now tell me, what did you dream about?’_

_Peridot shakes her head, snuggling into Blake’s chest._

_‘I don’t remember, but it was scary. Can I sleep with you and Vonnie?_

_Blake kisses Peridot’s forehead and pulls back the sheets for Peridot to jump into._

_‘Of course you can, now lie down and try to get some sleep. Mommy and Yvonne have to go to a big trial tomorrow, remember?’_

_Peridot yawns, ‘with Aunt Blu’ and Aunt Yeva?’_

_‘Yes darling, that’s right._

_Blake runs her fingers through Peridot’s long, brown hair. She rests on one elbow and watches her daughter slowly drift. Yvonne seems to have been disturbed by the talking, and she awakens but doesn’t move from her position on her stomach. Her amber eyes flicker, reaching out to pull the sheet up and over Peridot’s shoulders, tucking her in. Blake meets her wife’s sleepy gaze with a smile._

_‘Mommy?’_

_‘Mm?’_

_‘Promise you won’t let the bad dreams hurt me?’_

_‘Whenever you’re with mommy and Yvonne, no bad dreams will ever get you. We’ll always be here to look after you, sweetheart. I promise.’_

***

_‘The number you dialled has not been recognized, please hang up and try again. The number you have dialled has not been recognized, please hang up and try again, the number you have dia-‘_

Blake removes the phone from her ear, pressing the red button. This is the fourth time she’s tried calling Peridot’s number. Each time her daughter does not pick up and the line goes flat, Blake becomes increasingly distressed, a little more panicky.

Blake’s decided to stay late at work tonight, a new batch of drug related cases running her thin. She’d decided that maybe Peridot could drive home with her, back in Ocean Town to stay a few nights. It’s been so long since she’s spent time with her daughter, so now is a good time; especially now with Peridot’s recent separation with that partner of hers. Amethyst, if she recalls. 

Yelena and Blair never fail to keep her within the family dramatics, at least.  

She holds her mobile tightly in her hands, wondering if she should call the police or not.

No, that was a bit too dramatic. She doesn’t call Yvonne either, having might as well call a SWAT team should she worry her wife. Skimming her contacts, she dials Yelena’s number. It takes two rings for her niece to pick up. Her nasally, theatrical voice trills down the line.

_‘Aunt Blake! How lovely to hear from you, are you alright?’_

‘Hello Yelena dear, yes I’m fine. I was wondering, have you heard from Peridot at all?’

_‘Why yes, we went out to lunch today. Poor thing, absolutely heartbroken from that awful lesbian break up of hers.’_

Blake pinches the bridge of her long nose and counts to three.

‘Yes I know, you did tell me. But have you heard anything from her tonight? A phone call, text? Anything like that?’

_‘No, nothing of the sorts. Why? Has something happened? Should I call Mother?’_

‘No! No, dear. Yeva shouldn’t be concerned, nor Blu’ for that matter. Listen, you wouldn’t happen know any of Peridot’s friends would you? A number I can try?’

_‘Oh, Auntie I know all of Peridot’s friends- whether she knows it or not. I’ll text you the details!’_

‘I appreciate that, Yelena. Thank you.’

There is a pause, and Blake listens to Yelena’s soft breathing as she thinks.

_‘Auntie, you would let us know if anything was wrong, wouldn’t you?’_

‘Of course I would, dear. But I’m sure Peridot is just fine.’

 _‘I’m sure she is, but we_ are _family. Even if Mother and Mama don’t always act like it, they do love you. They love Peridot too, deep down.’_

Blake is touched, a warm smile gracing her face. She’s not all that sure Yelena and Blair realise how deep the roots of the feud go within their family, but she’s grateful that the twin’s hearts remain unsoiled by their mothers’ long history of hatred.

‘And I love all of you. Peridot is lucky to have you and Blair for cousins.’

_‘Thank you Auntie. Well, I’ll send you those numbers now!’_

‘Alright, dear. Take care.’

 The call ends and a minute or two later Blake’s mobile tings with a new message from Yelena. She has sent her three numbers and three names. Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl. Blake ponders for a moment before selecting Amethyst, dialling her number and waiting for someone to pick up.  

_‘H-hello?’_

‘Oh, hello! Hi, is this Amethyst?’

_‘Uh, yes it is but this really isn’t a good ti-‘_

‘I’m calling about Peridot,’ Blake jumps in before Amethyst can hang up, ‘this is her mother, Blake.’

_‘Wait, Mrs. Zircon?’_

‘Yes, it is. I’m sorry to call so late, and especially after your break up with my daughter, but her number is out of service. I was hoping you might know where I can find her?’

It sounds like somebody is hissing something to Amethyst, but Blake can’t tell for sure. She quickly continues.

‘I hope you don’t mind me calling, but you know Peridot’s cousin, Yelena? Yelena Diamond? She gave me your details. She went for lunch with Peridot today, but nor she or Blair have seen her since.’

There is more hissing, and Amethyst replies with a haste to her tone.

_‘A-Actually she’s with me! Her phone was stolen by some guy at work tonight.’_

Blake sits up, blinking in surprise. Her heart skips like a weight has lifted.

‘She is? Can I talk to her?’

_‘Um, she’s in the bathroom right now, taking a shower. But I’ll make sure she calls you right back!’_

‘Thank you Amethyst. I’m just glad to hear she’s okay, and that you two are back together I presume?’

_‘N-No problem, Mrs. Zircon. And yeah, we’re working things out.’_

‘Please, call me Blake from now on.’

_‘Okay, sure Blake. See you later.’_

‘Oh, of course. Goodbye!’

Amethyst cuts the call and Blake is left somewhat perplexed by the way Amethyst sounded so evasive, but at least she knows that her daughter is safe, and she is simply over reacting as a mother. She tells herself it’s her job, a worried mother is a good mother.  

Blake gathers up her folders, and decides she’ll send Peridot a new phone first thing tomorrow

***

Amethyst wishes she was the type of person that didn’t involve herself in a bad situation and go and make it worse. 

But she is, and that’s the reality.

If only she hadn’t brought Steven to Ronaldo’s café. If only she’d have thought to had gone back to Peridot’s apartment. If only she’d have grabbed her ex when she was given the golden chance.

But now she’s got a gun to her head in the middle of a stand-off, and in a matter of minutes she’s either going to be alive or dead.

In a moment, Amethyst is about to do something terrible.

In a moment, she’s going to seal Peridot’s fate for execution.

Her phone is ringing.


	11. Gangsta

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm home, back at work and nearly traumatised a poor man sat next to me on the plane while I wrote a couple of raunchy chapters a few thousand ft in the air. 
> 
> WARNING; this chapter contains themes of graphic violence and murder. 
> 
> You know where to find me @ https://whatthemillennial.tumblr.com/ 
> 
> Love, Betty

[PRESS PLAY ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAYgZEMMWxo)

 

As it turns out Steven is rather well acquainted with _X-TEA_ , and it really doesn’t surprise Amethyst. Steven is pretty much friends with everyone- including annoying geeks such as Ronaldo. He leads them all the way back out through China Town and a hop and skip on the night bus south of the city. Steven tells Amethyst that the café is open til late, but when they arrive the lights are dim in the shop windows, and nobody seems to be inside.

‘Maybe they closed up early? But Ronaldo usually takes night shifts…’

Amethyst puts her face up to the window and tries to spot any sign of movement, her breath fogging up the glass. On green front door hangs a sign, reading CLOSED. But when Steven turns the brass handle it opens easily, and the pair share a glance of apprehension before heading in, the bell trilling their arrival.

It’s quiet, almost too quiet. Even if there were no customers, at least Steven would hear Ronaldo or his wife, Jane bustling about the shop. But there was no one.

‘Come on, maybe there’s someone in the café?’

The short walk through the comic shelves and into the tiny diner café is done with bated breath, but their search is not in vain. Turning the corner Steven sees Ronaldo sitting in one of the booths in front of his laptop. He is pale faced, sweaty skin glistening in the dull spotlight on the ceiling. Before him sits a woman, her back is facing Steven and Amethyst. They only see the wild, white of her hair and the dark skin on her exposed tattooed shoulders.

They only have time for a moment’s speculation, when Ronaldo spots them with wide eyes, and Amethyst goes stiff when she feels cold metal pressing just over the knob of her spine at her neck. 

Steven is right beside her, and he slips a hand into hers. Amethyst doesn’t have to look to know he is being held up by the barrel of a gun too.

‘Boss,’ a woman says, ‘we got company.’

The mystery woman known as ‘boss,’ slips from the booth and gets to her feet, standing tall above them all. Two jaws drop, and Amethyst feels bile rise up in her throat. Steven finds his voice.

‘M-Malachite?’

It seems Malachite is surprised to see them as they are her, but the drug lord does not allow this to faze her much more than a second. She smiles with full, teal painted lips.

‘My, my! The Crystal Gems! Well- some of you.’

She greets them like old friends and opens her arms with a gusto, a pistol in her left hand with a loose grip.

‘Have you come for a milkshake? I’m afraid we’re closed! Couldn’t read the sign?’

Malachite glances at Amethyst, ‘illiterate, are we?’

‘You fucking racist bitch!’

Malachite laughs long and loud, Amethyst flushing hot with embarrassment and rage.

‘Funny too! Oh, Hispanics. Never a dull moment with you people!’

Steven gives Amethyst’s hand a hard squeeze to shut her up, and Amethyst grinds her teeth so she doesn’t threaten the bullet at her neck. Malachite saunters towards them and flips her hands at the armed women behind them, and they back off so she can wedge herself between Amethyst and Steven, throwing her muscular, tattooed arms over their quivering shoulders and walks them back to the booth.

‘I suppose since you’re here, you might be able to give a little encouragement to my friend Donaldo here!’ 

She pushes them to sit on the cracked leather, Amethyst up by the window and Steven squashed beside Ronaldo who looks less than impressed, as much as a man wilted in fear could.

‘It’s actually Ronaldo, m’lady…’

‘Shut the fuck up!’

Amethyst practically kicks him under the table when Malachite points her weapon at his head, sneering. When he shrinks back does Malachite lose interest, swinging her leather-clad hips over to sit on the chipped table in front of the trio.

‘ _Now_ then, as I was saying. _Donaldo_ here could use some motivation! I presume you’re all buddy-buddy?’ 

Before Amethyst or Ronaldo can slip a fatal word, Steven sits up and tries to ease the one-sided conversation.

‘Y-yes, that’s right. But what do you want with him?’

Malachite doesn’t answer at first, she gives Steven a hard, long look, her green eyes practically glowing in the dimness.

‘Doc, will you please man the door? Lock it.’

One of the two women, both sporting red suits and fluffy afros, lowers her gun and disappears back through the shelves. Her counterpart makes a show of folding her arms, a little smirk playing on her red lips. 

Malachite’s gaze has not left Steven, and the tension is so thick it could be cut with a knife. He stares back, unblinking and tries not to sweat under the intimidating woman’s glare. Eventually a big smile breaks out on her face, she sits up to laugh again.

‘Steven fuckin’ Universe! You never damn changed, huh? Nobody never looks me in the eyes cept’ my baby girl.’

‘You mean Lapis, right?’

Malachite is taken a-back, surprised like Steven shouldn’t know that information. The drug lord makes eye-contact briefly with her remaining body guard, who simply shrugs. Malachite seems to think for a moment before taking out a smartphone and holding it up to Steven. She ignores Amethyst, who watches uncertainly.

‘I should beat you into the ground for even lookin’ at my sister, but I suppose this makes my job easier. I’ll be level with you Crystal Gems, I’m in a bit of a pickle! See, Lapis went off with some nice piece on a ‘’job’’ around five hours ago, and nobody in my circle have seen her since leaving this shithole. I’ve not even managed to get a call in. You know this girl?’

Steven is looking at a crudely taken photo of what looks like Peridot, talking in a booth with Lapis in a location he doesn’t recognise.

Steven doesn’t say a word. Her eyebrows knit together and Malachite lowers the phone, but then holds it up to Amethyst.

‘What about you, Chica? Know good-lookin’ here?’

Amethyst swallows hard and forces on a poker face. She looks a little longer than necessary, but lifts her eyes to meet Malachite’s level.

She doesn’t say anything, either. Not without the risk of giving herself away, but it doesn’t seem to matter. It’s written all over their faces.

Malachite pockets the phone away with a tight expression, sighing in exasperation. She closes her eyes and puts a hand on her hip, shaking her head like she’s caught children with their hands in the cookie jar.

‘Now, Gems,’ she says with a steely tone, ‘please don’t lie to mama. We can do this the easy way-‘ she raises her gun up to Amethyst’s temple, ‘or we can do this the hard way. You two got three seconds to answer me truthfully, or only one of you is leaving with their brain in-tact.’

It looks like Ronaldo is about to blurt out the beans, but then a ringing comes from Amethyst’s chest, and everyone is caught in a standstill. Malachite’s eye twitches, her gun never leaving Amethyst’s head.

‘Answer it, put it on speakerphone.’

Amethyst doesn’t have a choice, and by all graces of god, she hopes it isn’t Peridot. She takes out her purple iPhone, there is no caller ID. She accepts the call.

‘H-hello?’

_‘Oh, hello! Hi, is this Amethyst?’_

There is a woman with a pretty, yet business like tone greeting her through the line. She sounds familiar.

‘Uh, yes it is but this really isn’t a good ti-‘ 

 _‘I’m calling about Peridot, this is her mother, Blake.’_  

Oh. Fuck.

Malachite zones in on her, Amethyst’s expression giving her away. They’ve been caught, and now they’re screwed.

‘Wait, Mrs. Zircon?’  

_‘Yes, it is. I’m sorry to call so late, and especially after your break up with my daughter, but her number is out of service. I was hoping you might know where I can find her?’_

Amethyst doesn’t know what to say, but Malachite hisses to her with a low voice.

‘Keep talking!’

 _‘I hope you don’t mind me calling, but you know Peridot’s cousin, Yelena? Yelena Diamond? She gave me your details._ _She went for lunch with Peridot today, but nor she or Blair have seen her since.’_

There is a horrible silence. Amethyst and even Steven start to sweat when Malachite’s face lights up, looking like a kid on Christmas who got everything she asked for.

‘Tell her she’s with you,’ Malachite quickly whispers. Amethyst can see Steven mouthing _‘no, don’t,’_ at her.

‘A-Actually she’s with me! Her phone was stolen by some guy at work tonight.’

Amethyst wants to die.

_‘She is? Can I talk to her?’_

‘Um, she’s in the bathroom right now, taking a shower,’ Amethyst quickly lies, ‘but I’ll make sure she calls you right back!’

_‘Thank you Amethyst. I’m just glad to hear she’s okay, and that you two are back together I presume?’_

‘N-No problem, Mrs. Zircon. And yeah, we’re working things out.’

_‘Please, call me Blake from now on.’_

‘Okay, sure Blake. See you later.’

_‘Oh, of course. Goodbye!’_

Amethyst hangs up before anybody else can grab the phone or get a word in. Her head bows, unable to look at Steven who probably looks as sick as she feels right now.

‘Well, well, _well_!’ Malachite howls cruelly, ‘no fuckin’ wonder you two kept your traps shut! You’re protecting a fuckin’ DIAMOND!’

Malachite tips her head back and chortles, ‘Army, can you believe it? The runt of the Crystal Gem’s has been banging a Diamond girl! And now she’s with my sister! Oh, this is going to be too easy.’ 

Ronaldo butts in, unable to keep himself together.

‘You leave Peridot alone! She won’t be any use to you, the Diamonds hate her.’ 

Malachite raises her eyebrows, Ronaldo’s words falling short.

‘How cute, but from what I heard from mommy dearest, it seems those two brat heiresses think quite a lot of that Peridot. Just the thought of having her as my little hostage gives me a hard-on. I highly doubt those air-heads would think nothing of a few million in exchange for their beloved cousin, what do you think, Army?’

Army grins nastily.

‘I’m sure they’d pay triple for that pretty face to remain in-tact.’

Amethyst can feel tears well up in her eyes, letting them slide in her shame and fear as the two mobsters cackle. Steven has lost all colour in his face, and Amethyst can see his hand moving under the table. She takes a guess at what he’s doing, and decides to distract Malachite the best she can.

‘Malachite, I’m begging you, please don’t hurt Peridot.’

Malachite ceases her laughter, but the smile does not slide from her face.

‘Those Diamond pretties cough up and I might not have to! Why? You in love with that fine piece of ass?’

‘Her _name_ is Peridot,’ Amethyst growls through her tears.

‘I’m going to take that as a yes, hit a soft spot there? Honestly Chica,’ Malachite leans forward and uses the barrel of her gun to tip Amethyst’s chin up to look her in the eyes, ‘love will only get you killed. Besides, who knows? Maybe my sister is already screwing your little girlfriend.’

‘Peridot would never do that,’ but Amethyst’s voice wavers, unsure of her own words, and Malachite knows it.

‘Oh, trust me. No woman can resist a Lazuli- and I’m sure as shit your little girlfriend wouldn’t resist _me._ ’

‘Y-you’re a-‘

‘A what? A monster? No darling.’

Malachite inches closer and whispers into Amethyst’s ear breathily.

‘I’m _worse. I’m the fuckin’ devil.’_

She sits back up as if she’s just complimented Amethyst’s shoes and turns back to Ronaldo, her head cocking sideways.

‘So, fat-boy. Now we’ve established you know _very_ well who Peridot is, you want to tell me why she and my sister were here? I’ve got a feeling my baby girl has been lying to me! And I hate _liars’._

If Ronaldo had been smart, he would have told Malachite the truth. And Ronaldo was smart, but with very little common sense.

‘They came in to buy a milkshake and say hi,’ Ronaldo tells her with a voice he tries to keep steady, ‘that’s all I know.’

Malachite looks at him with a simpering expression and then she raises the gun from her side and with one clean shot, shoots Ronaldo in the forehead, blood splattering on the back of the booth.

Amethyst screams, crying harder as she watches with bejewelled hands to her mouth as Ronaldo slumps over the table, nothing more than a dead corpse. Steven backs up, stumbling over his feet and falling on his backside to the floor in terror, pupils dilated in tearful eyes.

Malachite sighs heavily, looking like she’s just completed a mundane chore. She sneers at Steven on the floor below her, grabbing at the scruff of his neck to haul him to his feet. He is in so much shock he barely registers what’s happening, allowing Malachite to put the gun to his neck while she addresses Amethyst.

‘Chica, I really don’t want to be the one to start another war with you Gems, but I want names and places. Right now.’

Amethyst can’t take her eyes away from Ronaldo. He’s dead. There is a dead body in front of her. Oh god, she’s going to be sick.

‘Amethyst,’ Malachite snaps, ‘we don’t got all day! Tell me where Peridot is, or I _will_ kill Steven.’

‘A-Amethyst,’ Steven chokes, ‘don’t tell her anything!’

‘One…two…’

Steven closes his eyes, a tear escaping.

‘Amethyst it’s alright.’

‘Three…..’

‘NO! Please god no! I’ll tell you! Just please let him go!’

Malachite smiles knowingly, but she doesn’t lower the gun, keeping Steven in a headlock. He looks at her in terror.

‘Amethyst…’

Amethyst chokes out a sob, shaking and trying not to look at Ronaldo’s corpse which is bleeding out a huge puddle on the table.   

‘I don’t know where she is, we’ve been looking for her too- but I do know where she lives- she might be there! Her phone was hacked. I- I think she’s doing something dangerous.’

‘Hmph, with my sister, I ain’t fuckin’ surprised.’

To Amethyst’s relief, Malachite lets Steven go, pushing him away towards Amethyst. He stumbles, but Amethyst grabs him and they hold each-other, Steven recovering quickly and keeping the short woman behind him. Malachite nods over at Army.

‘Army, send a red alert to the rest of the Sirens. I want all everyone looking for Lapis and Peridot. If you find them, bring Peridot to me directly, no matter what my sister does or says. I want her unharmed, or she’ll be worth jack shit. Understand me?’

‘You got it boss. What about those two?’

‘These two stay with me. I don’t want no more trouble from the rest of those fucking Gems. Pearl and Garnet are to be avoided at all costs. If they get involved, kill them on sight.’

‘No!’

Malachite snaps her attention to the youngest pair of Gems, eyebrows knitted together in apparent disgust.

‘You watch your mouth, Chica. You’re an asset right now, but don’t push me. Next stunt you pull and it will be the last thing you ever do. Now, hand over your phones. I don’t want you two getting no ideas.’

Steven and Amethyst hand over their mobiles wordlessly, and Malachite takes them and throws them to Army, who stashes them in her suit pockets. Malachite rolls back her shoulders and pops her neck, sighing out in satisfaction like a big, mean cat. She barely acknowledges the mess she has made and orders Amethyst and Steven up, and they do so with sweating palms clutched together.

‘Aw! Bless your little hearts,’ Malachite drawls, ‘now, there’s a nice big van outside that you’re going to get into. You’re going to lead us to Peri-Peri’s place and two are gunna be nice about it! Yes?’

They nod.

‘I can’t hear you!’

‘Y-yes,’ the pair choke out in unison, like they’re being strangled.

‘That’s what I like to hear. Remember my dears, when you’re good to mama-‘

She shoves them to start walking towards the entrance of the shop, laughing as she does so with the gun at their heads.

‘-mama is good to you!’

*** 

‘I wonder how Steven and Amethyst are getting on,’ Pearl says with sigh of tiredness, ‘hopefully with better luck than us.’

Garnet and Pearl have been searching the East of Empire City, all of the places Peridot used to work, the houses of her friends, and now they’re on their way to Peridot’s apartment, fifteen minutes on the night bus. It only makes sense a criminal returns to the scene of a crime, even if Peridot isn’t a criminal.

Yet.

Garnet chuckles despite the stressful situation, and tries to reassure Pearl by squeezing her shoulder, Pearl leaning into the touch. Garnet’s touch is like a revival of energy, thumb soothing in her thin shoulder blade.

‘I’m sure they’re doing fine, but Peridot is very good at hiding when she wants to be.’

Pearl scoffs, rolling her big blue eyes.

‘Oh I know very well. Do you remember the time she and Amethyst got into their first fight?’

‘The one with Diamond twins involved, how could I forget? Peridot hiding at that mansion was like looking for glasses on your head. Easy to find but not quite as obvious.’   

Pearl shakes her head, and snakes her arm into the crook of Garnet’s elbow as they sit back and watch the world go by in a blur of bright lights.

‘Garnet…do you think Peridot has involved herself in some sort of drug deal?’

‘It’s unlikely…but I’m still trying to figure out how she met Lapis. Peridot started to date Amethyst a good year after the stand-off at Watermelon Island Bar. I thought we’d put Malachite and the Lazuli’s behind us one and for all.’

Pearl hums under her breath, looking morose.

‘We were twenty back then…Amethyst’s 18th birthday. Four years feels like a lifetime ago…’

‘After Rose passed, everything felt like a lifetime ago.’ 

The two fall silent. Rose a sensitive subject, and Garnet wonders if she should have brought it up. They’ve never really talked about it, not really. Nobody wanted to. Not even Steven, for a time.

They’re about to hit the stop where Peridot lives when Garnet’s phone beeps, and she wastes no time in checking her text. Pearl worries her lip in her teeth, jittery in nerves. Garnet reads the message. She reads it again. And again. She removes her shades to reveal her mismatched eyes, wide, like she can barely believe what she’s been sent.  

‘Garnet…’

‘Malachite,’ Garnet says quietly, and Pearl can scarcely believe her ears. She checks the text herself and almost feints dead away.

It’s from Steven, and the message reads two words in bold caps lock. 

**MALACHITE. SOS.**

‘Oh my god, she’s going to kill them! We have to do something!’

Garnet clenches her phone in her hand, almost crushing it under her strong grip. Her face has gone to stone, a look of murder in her eyes. Pearl knows that look, and every time she has, it gives her good reason to feel fear for somebody else.   

‘ _No_. No she’s not. Because _we’re_ going to kill her first.’  

They miss their stop, but it doesn’t matter. They have other places to go.


	12. Figure It Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're cranking up the crazy from here on out guys, and I really hope you enjoy this chapter. It was so much fun to write. Also, thank you so much for the kudos, the comments and the love. 
> 
> WARNING; This chapter contains themes of graphic violence and mild gore 
> 
> You know where to find me, come say hi! @ https://whatthemillennial.tumblr.com/
> 
> Love, Betty

[PRESS PLAY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhgVu2lsi_k)  

 

Lapis decides for both of their sakes, she will drive them to the law firm. It’s in the richer area of the city, and Peridot mumbles directions every now and again before slipping back into silence with downcast eyes.

Lapis is worried. This is the longest time Peridot has gone without saying much of anything, and in the dim of the yellow street lights Lapis can see her eyes are watery. Hands wringing together, she breathes shakily.

‘Hey, I’m sure it’s just a scare tactic. You’re moms are going to be fine.’

Peridot looks at her with a dullness in her eyes, and smiles with little humour.

‘Thinking like that will get you killed, _dumbass_.’ 

Lapis can do nothing but smile back, tiredly. She takes one hand off of the wheel and places it on Peridot’s knee to squeeze. When Peridot takes her hand in her two small ones, Lapis does not pull away.

***

The business quarter of the city is like a ghost town at this hour, the glittering sector with skyscrapers 50 stories with mirrored panels and the streets cleaner than most places in Empire City. There are some lights still on right at the tops of the building where workaholics still loiter, their expensive sports cars parked on the curb. It’s an odd sight to see the beat up, broken van drive past them with the engine choking on its own fuel now and again.

They pull up at a building like most of the others, tall, glassy and on the top is a huge sign in gold with blue spotlights that read out the name ZIRCON. Peridot wastes no time in shooting out of the van, clearly forgetting all about the plan to stay stealthy and one step ahead than Neon Devils. Lapis blanches and shoots out after her, remembering her bag of weaponry before slamming the door shut.

‘Peridot!’

Peridot races ahead, pushing through unlocked revolving door and Lapis is very nearly rendered legless when she dives in through the spinning glass and into the main lobby. Inside is a balanced mix of gold and sapphire hues and décor, which should clash horribly, but it works. At the end of the empty lobby is a dark haired woman at a desk wearing a security uniform, tapping away on a computer and doesn’t even look up at the commotion until Peridot reaches the desk and slams her hands on the mahogany. She ceases her typing and smiles up at Peridot’s flushed face.

‘Hello, can I help-‘   

‘I’m here to see my mom- I mean, director Blake and Yvonne. Are they here? I’m their daughter, Peridot.’

The woman continues to smile like she’s not just been rudely interrupted.

‘Of course! Peridot, it’s good to see you again. Director Blake is in her office on the 45th floor. I’ll let her know you’re here.’

Lapis has caught up to Peridot, huffing a little. Peridot breathes a sigh and takes her arm, dragging Lapis to the elevator.

‘We made it before they did! My mom is here, it’s going to be okay!’

‘Whoa, wait, Peridot-‘

The elevator door tings and the doors open, the pair clambering in. Peridot stabs her thumb on the button to the 45th floor and the doors swoop shut and then they are travelling up.

‘Peridot! You should have waited, what if this is a dupe? You’re letting your emotions get the better of you!’

‘Don’t you dare question my intelligence! I’m not going to risk my mom’s lives!’

They’re about to fall into another raging argument when suddenly the elevator stops moving with a violent jolt, and Peridot loses her footing and crashes into Lapis’s arms with an _‘oomph’._ The white lights in the elevator flicker red, and everything goes quiet.

‘W-what’s going on?!’ 

Lapis grimaces, holding Peridot closer in useless protection from what is awaiting them outside.

‘I think you’ve just walked us into a trap, Peri.’

Above them there is a speaker and it crackles to life, a very familiar voice seeping through. 

_‘Peri_800 and L_008, well done for following your instructions and completing the first task. In a moment these doors will open, L_008 I will ask you to leave the elevator promptly.’_

Seconds after the voice trills over the intercom, the elevator doors whoosh open. It seems that they are on the third floor, and just like the elevator the level of offices is a bath of maroon lighting.

‘ _L_008, please exit the elevator.’_

Lapis swallows but starts to do as she is instructed. Peridot clings to her tightly, looking like she’s on the verge of tears again.

‘Lapis, don’t go!’

‘Peridot, it’s alright. You’re going to be fine.’

‘No! I need you! We’re a team!’

Lapis knows they don’t have time for this, and she takes Peridot’s grabbing hands in hers to lock tightly together. She meets Peridot’s wet eyes with her steely gaze and brushes her lips over Peridot’s knuckles.

‘You need to let me go. We have to play the game, here, take this-‘ she wrenches one hand free and slips the bag off her shoulder and drops it at Peridot’s feet. Peridot really does start to cry, hiccupping out a sob.

‘Please, _please_ don’t leave me.’

_‘L_008, exit the elevator immediately.’_

Lapis can feel her heart breaking, a deep pain in her chest that feels like her ribs are caving in. Peridot looks so vulnerable the way the red light swallows her body, so that she looks even smaller.  

_‘L_008, this is your last warning.’_

Before Lapis can think twice she surges forward and presses her lips to Peridot’s, kissing her firmly, desperately. She can taste the salt of Peridot’s tears falling under her glasses. Peridot scarcely has chance to kiss her back when she’s being shoved away, back hitting the metal wall and Lapis jumps out of the elevator when she has the chance. She smiles sadly, encouragingly.

She smiles with regret, like it’s the last time she’ll see Peridot’s face.

‘Peridot, I’ll find you. I _promise._ ’

‘NO!’

Peridot hurtles herself after Lapis, but the doors slam on her heartbroken face and Peridot slams her fists up against the metal, screaming at the top of her lungs. 

‘NO! LAPIS! LET ME OUT OF THIS FUCKING THING! LET ME OUT YOU CLODS! LAPIS! _LAPIS!’_

Her cries fall on deaf ears and the skin of her fists start to welt with the promise of bruises. The elevator starts moving again, higher and higher towards the 45th floor. Peridot takes deep, shuddering breaths in an attempt to keep from losing her cool. She can feel a headache coming on, and shoves her fingers under her round glasses to wipe her eyes dry.

Turning her attention to Lapis’s backpack she rummages through and pulls out both guns, making sure they are fully loaded and stuffing the extra ammo in her denim jacket over her sweater. She tucks one of the hang guns in the back of her tight leggings, making sure it is secure and won’t slip.

Somehow she wishes Lapis had taken the weapons, figuring she’d need them more than she did. But Lapis is 43 floors below her, and Peridot forces herself to focus on what is awaiting her. The little screen flashes the double digits soon enough.

_….25_

_29…._

_….34_

_38….._

_…..41_

_44…._

Peridot takes another breath, eyes locked on the doors.

There is a ting, and the doors slide open. Peridot pauses, standing before the hall that leads to her mothers offices and the board room, separated by huge glass windows and doors. Hesitantly she takes one step out, looking around with caution, her finger resting on the trigger. The entire floor is washed in the creepy red lighting, and it doesn’t help Peridot’s nerves.

She knows this is another scare tactic, like the one with her mom’s. She’s starting to believe that maybe Blake and Yvonne were just that- scare tactics.

Peridot needs to calm the fuck down.

  _This is just a game. It’s just a game. It’s just a game._

She chants this to herself for confidence, but the illusion shatters when her phone rings from her pocket, shoved in with the ammo. She doesn’t waste time to answer, scrambling to pull it out and swipe the screen right.

‘Listen here you crazy clod-!’ 

‘ _Hello_ _Peri_800! Wow, that was quite the performance of emotion there!’_

The woman’s voice practically sings, mocking her with delight, and Peridot feels the snap of her heart, anger bubbling up deep in her chest.

‘I bet you really love watching people cry, you and your damn devil buddies.’

‘ _I prefer to address them as my customers. They truly do enjoy seeing a pretty face crumple, but they enjoy a victory more. You have fans, my darling! You’re being rooted for. Don’t you want to win?’_

Peridot feels disgusted, her grip on the phone tightening.

‘You people are sick! This isn’t a fucking movie!’

_‘Peri_800, do you want to play the game, or do you want to let your partner suffer your consequences?’_

‘Don’t you dare touch her! I swear to god I’ll destroy you if you lay a finger on Lapis!’

_‘Good, then we’re on the same page. Now, Peri_800 are you ready for your clue?’_

Peridot’s head feels heavy, the voice irritating like a Kids Bop cover playing on a scratched CD.

‘Sure, lay it on me, asshole.’

The woman giggles softly.

_‘A mountain you stand on, a damsel in distress- use your fingers not your fists. A dragon is dormant in its virtual cage. Move fast, move swift to be spared his rage.’_

‘W-what! That doesn’t make sense!’

‘ _Good luck, Peri_800.’_

The line goes dead and Peridot wants to scream in frustration and throw her phone through the glass window to her right. She’s really starting to hate these fucking riddles. What the hell was wrong with literal clues?! But she doesn’t have time to fume, she’s being watched by a bunch of sadistic perverts and she’s got to figure out the sum of logic.

Peridot makes her way through the glass narrowed hall towards her moms office and tries to break it down in her head.

A mountain….she’s on the 45th floor of a skyscraper. The damsel in distress could be either she or Lapis, but Lapis is unarmed and doesn’t know the law firm building like Peridot does.

Peridot pushes the glass door of the huge office and walks inside, all too familiar with this room. It smells like coffee, Blake’s Gucci perfume and Yvonne’s collection of fragrant orchids on her desk. It smells like home, and oh god, does Peridot wish she was back in Ocean Town in her parent’s suburban house. 

Blake’s desk is a mess, files stacked high and a half-finished latte by the laptop on standby. Peridot can tell Blake has been here recently, and that twists in her gut to know these criminals could hurt either she or Yvonne at any time.

She sits at her mom’s desk and places the gun on the silver plated table. She pushes the files aside and activates the laptop from sleep mode. One can only imagine her surprise when instead of the screensaver she expects to see of a family photo at the beach when she was five, is a cartoon dragons head in its place. Below reads WELCOME PERI_800. PLEASE LOGIN.

Great, they hacked her mom’s laptop. Blake is going to kill her.

Her fingers dance on the key pad and move the cursor to click on the hyperlink. The dragons head disappears, and a set of digits pop up in its place in red.

30:00

29:59

29:58

29:57

_A dragon is dormant in its virtual cage. Move fast, move swift to be spared his rage._

It’s a bomb.

Oh god, it’s a fucking bomb! Peridot runs her hands through her hair in a panic, her chest tightening up with the stress. How the fuck is she meant to get out of this?!

‘Shit, shit shit….how do I fix this?’

_‘Well, that’s easy!’_

‘Holy fuck!’

Peridot nearly falls out of her chair at the booming voice seeming to speak to her from thin air. Peridot looks around for installed cameras or speakers, but in the shadows and poor lighting she sees none.

‘How do I disable the bomb?!’

The voice laughs cruelly. Predictably, it’s the same voice that has been guiding them through the night.

_‘That answer lies with your partner. All you have to do is find her. You find the damsel, you save the day.’_

‘ARGGGG YOU MOTHERFUCKERS!’

There is no reply, the voice cutting out and Peridot grabs her gun and makes a mad dash for the door, heading back to the elevator. Her phone tings, and when she opens the screen she sees that too, has been hacked to alert her of the time she has left. A black screen with blue digits.

29:05

28:58

She needs to hurry.

***

The moment she leaves Peridot in the elevator, screaming and hitting the metal doors, Lapis wonders if she’s done the right thing as Peridot’s yelling fades away. She also wonders if she should have given Peridot all her guns, but when she reaches back around her she finds that she somehow has the small hand-gun she gave to Peridot earlier on, using it to shoot Sugilite’s ear off.

Lapis checks the bullet count, cursing when she realises she only has 6 left. She snaps back the magazine compartment and stuffs it into her plaid jacket pocket.

She takes her time to look around her surroundings, and it’s hard to concentrate on one thing with the red light altering her vision. She seems to be in what looks like an open space office, desks, chairs and computers everywhere. From where she’s standing there is a nice view of the business quarter. 

Lapis is ready to explore, when the ting of the elevator alerts to her attention and she whizzes around, believing for a split second its Peridot returning back to her.

The elevator doors open, and Lapis’s heart sinks. It’s not her partner, but a prettily wrapped rectangle present with a bow on top. Suspicions raise out the roof as Lapis approaches it, ducking down to swoop it up. There is a little tag on the gift, and Lapis flips it over to see printed words.

_For Peri_800, love L_008_

Lapis is absolutely stumped.

‘What in the fuck?’

Something in Lapis tells her she shouldn’t open the package, instead stashing it away in her jacket and heading pressing the button for the 45th floor. It doesn’t work.

‘What…?’

She presses it harder, but the elevator doors do not budge an inch. It’s of no use.

Lapis grinds her teeth and huffs. She heads back out of the elevator and searches for the nearest staircase.

She needs to find Peridot. 

*** 

Peridot is halfway down the building when the elevator comes to a stop at the 15th floor. 17 floors too high. The power in the elevator goes dead once the doors open to the café department, and Peridot has never known to deal with such exasperation that didn’t come from her overbearing aunts.

The cafeteria is almost like a restaurant, the building once a former hotel before transformed into a law firm. She remembers when she was still young, and her mothers would argue over the design, both with expensive taste but completely different visions.

Sometimes, Peridot believed her moms were more like her aunts than they cared to admit. 

She knows exactly where the emergency stairs are from here, and it’s a relief she has to go down, not up. She heads through the kitchens and spots the fire exit just behind the huge refrigerators, and pushing the door open she’s actually surprised to be hit with the white light of the staircase. It’s blinding, and she takes a moment to adjust to the harsh white walls.

She peers over the side of the railings, and it’s a long, _long_ way down. Peridot gulps and starts to make her way down the first flight.

*** 

If Lapis is truly honest with herself, she’s lost. This damn building is a maze, and it doesn’t help on how dark it is, every shadowy corner is where something or someone could be lurking. There’s no staircase, no way up- nothing.

She’s walking through a hallway, past a rest room, and up ahead a sign lets her know she’s near Human Resources. Lapis sighs, her stomach makes a tiny gurgling noise and she realises that it’s been a good few hours since she last ate.

She hopes Human Resources has a vending machine. 

***

Running downhill was the easy part, and Peridot is breathless as she sees the door for the 3rd floor- finally.

_I’m coming for you Lapis._

She gives the handles an almighty tug, and-

The doors are locked. Of course they are.

‘FUCK!’

Peridot kicks the white painted wood in frustration, scuffing the paintjob with her shoe. How is she meant to get in now? She could always continue down, but who’s to say those doors won’t be locked to? Still, she can’t stay here forever. It seems down is the only way to go.

Peridot trudges to the second floor, and tries her luck at opening the double doors. They are unlocked, and Peridot perks up with confidence. She’s ready to continue inside when she hears a dull thud behind her. It’s a low sound, coming from down below.

Quietly, Peridot closes the doors and leans her body over the railings to see if Lapis has found the staircase too- maybe it’s the night guard from the desk?

As soon as she looks over, Peridot wishes she hadn’t.

Walking up the first flight of stairs is Sugilite, her hair is tied back with her ear taped up- and she’s still holding her deadly machete. Peridot can’t stop an audible gasp escape her lips, a fatal mistake. Sugilite sticks her head out over the railings and looks up, eyes darkening and a smirk playing on her purple glossed lips. She must have followed them all the way here, or known they were already here in advance.

‘Hello, princess.’

‘AHH!’

Peridot bolts through the double doors and she can hear Sugilite thundering after her. Peridot knows she is right under Human Resources, and she also knows that it’s the best place to lose Sugilite due to the maze-like hallways, a place she would play hide and seek with the receptionist when she was young.

She skids round the carpeted corner and bullets of sweat break out on her forehead as she tries to find the elevator.

‘C’mere princess! I wanna know what you look like with your neck _nice and wide_!’ 

There it is! On the right Peridot spots her escape, the lights are on that tell her the elevator is working this time. Racing inside she pushes the third floor button so hard it nearly breaks, and the doors start to whoosh close.

Peridot lets out a terrorised screech when the blade of Sugilite’s machete dives in-between the crack of the closing doors, and she laughs with a deep boom when she knows she has Peridot cornered in the metal box.

Peridot scrambles for her gun when Sugilite start to pry the doors apart, and for a second Peridot is so scared she forgets how to pull the trigger under the evil glare and glint of Sugilite’s fang-like teeth.

But then her hand slips, and Sugilite hollers in pain, staggering back in surprise. Peridot realises she’s shot her, and snapping back into reality she shoots again and again in a blind panic, so that Sugilite backs off completely and the doors slam shut. 

‘YOU LITTLE SHIT! I’LL SKIN YOU ALIVE!’

Peridot presses her back up against the cold metal and tries to catch her breath, glasses fogging up, and she prays for the elevator to start moving.

It doesn’t.

There is a short silence, Peridot covers her mouth with her free hand. She can hear Sugilite breathing heavily outside, and Peridot hopes that she goes away. The breathing stops.

‘You’re still in there, aren’t you?’

Peridot’s eyes widen. Oh no.

She screeches again when the banging starts, Sugilite throwing her weight against the doors in an attempt to get in, and Peridot thinks fast. She looks up- the emergency hatch!

By now Sugilite has made a dent in the doors, and it’s only a matter of time before Peridot is mincemeat. She squats down and jumps high with her arms outstretched to the ceiling, and it takes one, two shoves until the brittle hatch gives out and Peridot sees the black of the tunnel. One more jump, she clings to the hatch opening and hitches herself up. Yes!

She’s almost through, when suddenly she’s met with a searing pain- metal has met her leg and Sugilite makes a grab for her after she has inflicted the injury, Peridot gasps harshly when the flat of her stomach is swiped by the blade, leaving a thin cut on her exposed skin.

‘I’ve got you now!’

‘GET OFF OF ME!’

Peridot grabs her spare gun from her waist band of her leggings, and tries to shoot the offending hand that is now clasped around her calf. She shoots once, screaming when she accidently hits her own leg, and then twice is her lucky shot- Sugilite letting her go when a finger is blasted away.

‘UGHHHH YOU SCRAWNY CUNT! I’LL HANG YOUR HEAD ON A SPIKE!’

‘Fuck off!’

Peridot is in pain, her leg is horribly injured but she can’t stop now. The hole might be too small for Sugilite to fit, but she doubts that will stop the hulking woman. She pockets the gun, spits on her hands and takes a hold of the thick wire that holds up the elevator, grunting and groaning as she shimmies up the metal rope. Below her Sugilite is clawing at the ceiling, desperate to get to her.

‘YOU CAN’T RUN FROM ME FOREVER, PRINCESS! THEY ALL TRY, BUT NOBODY ESCAPES ME! NO-ONE!’

Peridot continues to climb, unsure how to get out. All the elevator doors are closed from here up on out- and she doesn’t know where Lapis is! She prays to a god she doesn’t believe in, that Lapis is still on the third floor.

She starts to scream.

***

Lapis swallows the last of the Kit Kat and throws the wrapper over her shoulder. It turned out HR has a pretty sweet vending machine, but the prices are way too damn high for a goddamn candy bar. Her hunger has curved, and now she was back on track to try and find a way to Peridot. No Kit Kat can curve her increasing worry for her blonde partner.  

Heading back through HR is a bit of a nightmare, the halls zigging and zagging, but Lapis has always prided herself on her navigational skills and soon enough she spots the HR sign she saw only ten minutes ago.

_‘HELP!’_

Lapis’s ears perk up. What was that?

_‘HELP! LAPIS HELP ME!’_

‘Peridot!’

Lapis starts to break out in a run to where the voice of Peridot beckons her, the yelling loud and clear, desperate like she was in pain. Lapis is lead all the way to the closed doors of the elevator where they had been separated, and Peridot is screaming from the inside.

‘LAPIS!’

‘Peridot, I’m here! Can you get the doors open?!’

Peridot sobs.

‘No! I’m clinging the fucking rope, Sugilite is behind me! Oh god, Lapis help me!’

Lapis wastes no time, her blunt-nailed fingers digging into the crack of the elevator doors and praises fricking Jesus she spent all that time on her upper body strength. It takes a lot of huffing and struggling, but she manages to pry the silver doors apart and she wobbles when she sees there is no elevator, only bleak emptiness all the way down. Before her Peridot is clinging to the metal elevator chord, looking like her leg has been mangled and her face is red and blotchy. Lapis stretches her arm out for her.

‘Grab my hand! Come on!’

‘I’ll fall!’

‘No, no you won’t- come on, I’ll catch you!’

There is an almighty crash, and both girls look down in terror to see Sugilite has all but destroyed the elevator ceiling and is now attempted to climb up towards them.

‘Shit! _Peridot take my fucking hand_!’

Peridot lets go with one hand and tries to reach for Lapis, their fingers inches apart.

‘Just a little further, come on babe you got this!’

Big tears fall down Peridot’s face.

‘Lapis!’

They have but seconds, and Lapis steadies herself by the doorway, holding out both arms wide and she can’t hide how scared she is right now, no matter how hard she tries to look encouraging.

‘Peridot, you remember the wall in the park? I caught you when you fell! You trusted me, so please trust that I’ll catch you now!’

Their eyes lock on to each other, and Peridot can see the fear in Lapis’s big, blue eyes. She swallows thickly and nods.

‘I trust you.’

Peridot closes her eyes tight, and bracing herself she counts to three in her head, and on the third beat she hurtles herself from where she clings to the chord over the space where certain death awaits below.

She expects to fall. But just like in the park, her body is snatched by strong arms and the girls tumble to the ground in a heap, winded from the impact. Peridot is still held tight in Lapis’s grip when they hit the ground, but through her frightened tears she grins down at her. 

‘You caught me.’

‘Dork,’ Lapis huffs, ‘told you I would!’

The moment is ruined when they hear a frustrated roar coming from the tunnel, and Lapis stands them up quickly. Peridot buckles under her injured leg and Lapis wraps her hand around her waist.

‘Lapis you have to listen to me, there’s a bomb! This building is going to be blown to bits, and we don’t have time!’

Lapis is taken back.

‘Wait, a bomb? Are you sure?’

Peridot seethes and grips Lapis’s shirt collar like she wants to shake the sense into her.

‘Yes I’m fucking sure! The crazy clod told me you would have the key to disarm the bomb!’

There is another crash, and the pair watch as a meaty arm swings over to grip the floor, and Sugilite starts the haul herself up and over with a hand with four fingers.

‘Holy moly! Peridot, let’s talk about this later!’ 

‘Wha-HEY!’

Lapis dips Peridot to haul her into her arms bridal fashion, and starts running back into the department of HR, as fast as she can with the injured girl in her arms.

‘Left! Go left!’

‘Left?’

‘Just do it!’

‘Fucking hell, alright!’

They race down the east wing of HR, and it gets darker and darker until the maroon shades become more black that red. Peridot visualises the map of the building in her head. 

‘Okay, up ahead! The mailing room has chutes we can go down, it’s our only chance!’

Lapis does as she is instructed and pumps her legs faster until they reach a thin door that reads in the dim light, MAILING AND DELIVERIES. They burst into the room, bright like the staircases. Busy and full of shelves that go for miles, metal chutes are further up the room, big enough for bodies to be thrown down. Lapis raises her eye brows.

‘You sure you wanna jump down that?’

Peridot squirms in her grip, the pain in her leg becoming harder to ignore.

‘We don’t have a choice! It’s the only way out!’

Lapis runs them over to the chutes, the chute revealing an empty abyss. She can feel the wind on her face and hear cars outside, she can taste freedom.

‘Okay, you ready?’

Peridot nods, pursing her lips. It’s going to hurt like hell, but she’d rather lose a leg than be dead. Lapis is about to positon her to slide down when heavy footsteps come thundering down the halls, and Lapis looks back when she sees Sugilite burst into the mail room looking like she wants to kill somebody, and mercifully she hasn’t spotted them yet.

Peridot hisses at her.

‘Let’s go!’

But Lapis has made her decision, knowing that there is only one way to finish this. Quickly, she takes out the package from her jacket and pushes it into Peridot’s hands, reaching behind her legging waistband to take the gun from Peridot’s person.

‘What is this? What are you doing?!’

 But Lapis ignores her, and takes a precious second to gaze at Peridot’s face, cradling it with her hands as the girl sits on the edge of the chute. Peridot knows Lapis is going to do something stupid, she can see it in her eyes.

‘Lapis, don’t you fucking dare!’   

But Lapis only smiles sadly, stroking Peridot’s freckled cheeks with her thumbs.

‘I wish I could have known you. We could…we could have been something.’  

Peridot goes cold, but it’s too late and with one hard shove she’s falling through the chute and her voice echoes Lapis’s name as her body hurtles down the metal slide...


	13. I'm So Sorry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This week has felt so long! But finally, we're back on track. This chapter was a bitch to write, but I hope it is worth your wait. 
> 
> WARNING; this chapter contains themes of graphic violence, gore and murder. 
> 
> Ask away @ https://whatthemillennial.tumblr.com/
> 
> Love, Betty.

[PRESS PLAY ](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pJbS2iw0vQ)

 

Lapis at least wishes she could have kissed Peridot goodbye, even if just for a second, but Peridot is gone now- possibly forever, and Lapis turns to face Sugilite with as much bravery as she can muster.

Lapis has killed people before; she’s no stranger to bloodshed. But this is different, this is not one of Malachite’s psychopathic tests of loyalty, and she doesn't have back up of a ratio of 6:1. Lapis is on her own in a dank mailroom, facing off a woman twice her height and weight, and she only has one gun with maybe 10 bullets left. 

Lapis weighs up Sugilite, her eyes darting over her huge figure as she approaches.

_Height 6 ft 9, probably weighs 14 stone. Bullet wound in her shoulder, flesh wounds, non-critical. Right index finger is missing. Machete is unstable in her left hand; the right is dominant._

Sugilite is almost smug looking, prowling closer to Lapis with a big grin on her face.

‘So, looks like it’s just you and me, Lazuli. What happened to Princess? Gone so soon?’

Lapis doesn’t like Suglite’s arrogance, it makes her blood boil and puts her nerves on edge. The gun tightens in her sweaty palm.

‘This is between you and me. Peridot is no concern of yours.’

Sugilite laughs heartily, genuinely amused.

‘Ooh! You got them feels, huh? Careful with ya heart strings.’

She’s getting closer, and Lapis is backing up. She knows Sugilite is trying to taunt her, to make her angry, impulsive- so she can get the upper hand. Lapis won’t let her.

‘She’s got a shot to her main artery in her leg,’ Lapis tells Sugilite calmly, ‘she will bleed out within the hour and it she will no longer be my problem- or yours.’

Sugilite hums under her breath.  ‘Cold, you Lazuli’s. You really live up to your rep.’ 

‘You know shit about us.’

‘Oh, don’t be fuckin’ with me baby,’ Sugilite drawls, ‘your fuckin’ psychomaniac sister and her little sisters. One disgraced, the other standin’ in fronta me and pretendin’ she don’t care about her dying princess down the chute.’ 

They’re circling each-other now, weighing the other up and Lapis is on her guard. She notices that Sugilite likes to talk, and she decides to keep it that way. To her back is the start of the huge rows of ceiling-high shelves, they make up a maze where light is swallowed up where the old bulbs have gone in the back. In her face are the chutes, a fire extinguisher, and Sugilite. She has no plan- but she realises she doesn’t need one. All she needs is a bit of time and a few good hits. 

‘Jasper was a liability, as is Peridot. As are you.’ 

‘You really think ya gunna beat me? Please. Once I’m done with you, I’m going to go and find Peridot- I’m going to make sure she’s dead, and if she isn’t…well. I’m going to have a mighty nice time sawing her head from that pretty body of hers- maybe she’ll be even conscious enough to scream.’

Lapis swallows thickly, Suglite’s expression darkening in sick pleasure. Their stand-off has come to an end, and Lapis christens it with an attempted shot to Suglite’s knee, which she misses when Sugilite dodges with surprising agility. The machete swings low for her neck, and Lapis ducks and makes a run for the maze of shelves.

‘C’mere brat!’

Lapis skids to the left, through a space where the shelves intersect and spots another ladder leaning against the metal of the towering shelves. Quickly Lapis climbs it, higher to the top of the shelves and hitching herself up and supporting her footing against stacked, uneven boxes. Sugilite is making an attempt to climb up after her, but Lapis shoves the top of the ladder as hard as she can, and then Sugilite’s yell bellows when her heavy body crashes into the other shelves, creating an almost comedic domino effect, crash thundering when boxes and metal hit the concrete flooring. 

There's a dangerous hush of silence after Sugilite's fall, and Lapis peers over where she perches to try and spot Sugilite's body under the pile of heavy boxes.

There is stillness, and Lapis dares not breathe. She attempts to look for a way down, pocketing the gun and stretching her leg down to the lower platforms on the shelf so that she might climb down.

Lapis hears one gasp of warning before the roar of fury, Sugilite's arm punching free of her cardboard prison and pushing herself to a standing position, looking for her prey.   

Lapis is dangling from the shelf, fingers gripping the edges of the platform. She's about to let herself fall to the bottom, right into the fire pit of Sugilite's murderous rage- she tries to pull herself up, but she slips and mouth is a wordless O as she falls to the ground, upon the hard piles of cardboard boxes.  

Sugilite wastes no time in ploughing through the boxes to get to her, shoving them away like they weigh nothing. Lapis has landed on something hard- her back sure to bruise tomorrow; if she lives to see tomorrow.

She barely has time to sit up when her neck is grabbed in one, fingerless hand, and bile rises to her throat when she smells the pungent odour of blood and fluids- swearing she can feel the bone pressing into her skin. 

Sugilite lifts her high from her awkward position, and Lapis struggles, gasping as the oxygen she breathes is stolen. Her eyes bulge and water, looking into Sugilite's glazed, bloodshot glare. Sugilite brings her arm up high, the blade of the machete reflecting the white lights, Lapis squinting when it shines in her eyes.

Gripping tight on Sugilite's bicep does she manage to swing a hard kick into Sugilite's chest, and Sugilite's grip loosens just enough so that Lapis forces herself free, landing another kick to her groin. Sugilite grunts in the pain and tries to swing for Lapis's head, which Lapis dodges by a hair. She knows that she can't win by one-on-one combat, she needs to be smart.

She doesn't think, only moves when the blade comes down again to reach for her gun and shoot at the offending weapon. The bullet screeches when it slices the base of the blade which distracts Sugilite from shock just long enough for Lapis to get away. She shoves more boxes from the shelves to put space between her and Sugilite, grunting with the effort. 

She sees the fire extinguisher from where it is secured to the wall next to the chutes- and Lapis could get away right now if she wants.

She can hear Sugilite making a ruckus as she chases after her, and Lapis snatches the fire extinguisher from the wall and just as Sugilite is a breath away she turns and sets it off in the hitman's face.

Sugilite splutters and swears when the white liquid foam sprays in her face, blinding her vision and catching her off guard. She recovers quickly and wards through it to reach for Lapis, but Lapis stops the spraying and with a yell she brings up the red canister high over her head to slam it into Sugilite's head.

'AH! FUCK-!'

Lapis slams it into her side and Sugilite staggers back, dropping the machete in the process. When Lapis thinks she has the upper hand does Sugilite make a grab for the fire extinguisher on Lapis's third swing, and it's an effortless tug of war as she rips it away and throws it with a clatter to the ground. 

Both women breathe heavy, and there is a pause before Sugilite makes a lunge for Lapis. She's bleeding from the side of the head, probably concussed, and Lapis sees the way she staggers.

However, it makes her no less dangerous and Lapis screams when Sugilite makes a solid crack when her meaty fist meets Lapis's jaw. Sugilite punches her again, and Lapis's mouth goes warm. She spits out a mouthful of blood before forcing herself to fight back, ducking under the swing of Sugilite's arm and inflicting a hard jab to Sugilite's ribs, and then another to her throat which causes Sugilite to choke and wheeze. Lapis doesn't hold back with the hits, a surge of adrenaline and the unshakable need to win coursing through her veins. 

Her wrist is grabbed when she tries to lay in another punch to Suglite's gut, crying out when Sugilite twists it back painfully. Lapis gets close and sinks her teeth into Sugilite's flesh, biting down hard enough so that Sugilite let's go, but knees Lapis low in the abdomen to match the dirty move.

Lapis is winded, forced to her knees and screams again when a devastating blow of Sugilite's foot connects with her side so her body hits the concrete ground harder. 

Lapis groans, trying to get up but Sugilite won't let her, sneering down at her as she uses her boot clad foot to push into Lapis's throat and applying pressure so that the oxygen is stolen once more, and Lapis gasps and tries to shove Sugilite away, her efforts useless.

'You know, you Lazuli's do put up a good fight,' Sugilite huffs, 'I can almos' bring myself ta respect how long ya lasted.'

'I-I'm nuh gunna to d-die under yuh,' Lapis chokes, 'Nuh tunight!'

Her garbled words make Sugilite laugh cruelly, who pushes down harder and Lapis's eyes nearly roll back into her head as she suffocates.

'Baby, you's is gunna die under me, nice and slow. Face it, you've lost the game.' 

Lapis heaves a thin gasp, her vision starting to blur. She manages to train her eyes to the left, and suddenly she sees clarity. The machete is only an arm’s length away, and Sugilite doesn't seem to have noticed it, too busy on watching Lapis suffer.

Batting on her last chance of survival Lapis reaches out frantically and her fingers touch the base of the weapon, curling around the base and Sugilite barely has time to react before she's screaming, the blade brought up and slicing into her leg. Jean material is torn and flesh bleeds under the knife, Lapis dragging the blade down so that skin oozes red furiously and flesh is gorged out and hits the bone.

Sugilite retracts immediately, Lapis pulls the blade free to slice it deep into Sugilite's thigh once more. She struggles to her feet and all the blood rushes to her head, but she forces herself to focus. Taking the weapon into both hands she lunges for Sugilite with full force and controlled by white hot rage.

'HAH!'

Lapis's swing proves fatal, Sugilite has raised her arm to block the hit on instinct, her back curved. There is an agonized howl when Lapis severs Sugilite's wrist, hacking the hand away and snaps from the tendons and falls to the floor with a wet _splat_ in a puddle of blood.

'AHHHH!'

Sugilite backs up, tears streaming down her face and face twisted in agony. She's backing up, but Lapis doesn't hold back and continues the merciless slaughter. Another blow is sent to Suglite's good leg, rendering her to her knees with a heavy thud. Lapis swipes the blade across Suglite's jaw and there is a sickening crunch as the bones in her face are shattered.

The scene is horrifying, should a bystander be a witness. Sugilite is groaning and her jaw falls slack, nerves severed, teeth missing and bits of her tongue lolling from the gaping hole in her face. Lapis towers over her, and Sugilite only looks up with those bloodshot eyes. It's a steely gaze of challenge, and blood bubbles up as she laughs with a gurgled muffle.

She cannot speak anymore, but she's still defiant. She's accepted her defeat, but Lapis won't satisfy her with a quick end, noticing the way Sugilite nods at the gun in Lapis's pocket.

She does not know who is watching, but she does know she's tired of being fucked with. Lapis makes this her statement, and it will be made with Sugilite's grisly demise.

Lapis raises the machete high, eliciting a low noise from Sugilite as her eyes widen in shock, like she's disbelieving that Lapis could be so cruel to kill her with her own weapon.

Her muffled scream falls on deaf ears as Lapis swings the blade with expert precision down to Sugilite's neck and there is a dull crunch when she swiftly beheads the hitwoman with all her strength. Suglite's head is separated from her body instantly, and it falls from her shoulders onto the dirty floor with a roll. The body slumps in on itself, and Lapis breathes even as she watches her joyless victory, the fight finally ended.

There is only quiet now, but Lapis has a ringing in her ears and the smell of blood laced in metallic is thick in the air. She realises she's still holding the machete, and with disgust lets it clatter to her feet.

She lets herself look over the horror she's created once more, never dreaming she could be capable of doing something like this.

Malachite would be so proud.

Suddenly reality hits her like a brick wall, and she remembers Peridot is probably still at the bottom of the chute, bleeding out and with no-one to help her. Lapis makes for the chute she shoved Peridot down, leaving the murder scene behind her. She doesn't even look over her shoulder, too scared she'll throw up now her adrenaline high is wearing off.

The ride down is dark and cold, Lapis whizzing down it with surprising speed and making it to the mail door within seconds. She kicks it open and clambers out, finding herself in an alley designed for truck deliveries. She looks around frantically for Peridot.

Peridot is nowhere to be seen, and panic bubbles up in Lapis's chest like an inferno. In the dark she looks around and calls Peridot's name.

Her only reply is the city traffic in the distance, a car whizzing on the main road every now and again.

_The van!_

Lapis breaks into a run down the alley and grips the locked picket fence to climb up and over onto the sidewalk. She circles the huge building back to the front, noticing that all the lights are now off- she can see the front lobby is dark and abandoned through the locked revolving doors.

The van is just where Lapis parked it on the curb outside the entrance and her heart pounds in her chest when she does not see Peridot it either seat.

Rounding the van, she sees that there are three bloody hand prints on the back doors, too large to be Peridot's small palm. Lapis's beating organ is in her mouth when she takes the handles and pulls open the white, rusted doors to see who is inside...


	14. Out Of My Head (Of My Mind)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I had a pretty awesome stream writing this chapter, and we got through five pages and some pretty sick beats- especially this one, which we found to be mutually enjoyable. 
> 
> WARNING; this chapter contains themes of graphic injury. 
> 
> Ask away @ https://whatthemillennial.tumblr.com/
> 
> Love, Betty.

[PRESS PLAY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lX44CAz-JhU)

  

Peridot's tumble down the chute was not a smooth ride, falling head first down the metal slide and her injured leg twisting painfully as it hits the narrow sides on her journey down.

The fall does not last very long and she's shooting out of a trap door and onto the hard ground with a grunt and a dull thud. The fall hurts, smacking her head and scraping her cheek in the collision. The night air is cooler than the inside of the stuffy mailroom, and despite her discomfort it is a relief. Peridot takes a deep breath and her body shudders.

'Ow....'

Peridot is sitting up and trying to regain her bearings, thoroughly shaken from the craziest twenty minutes of her life. She's finding it hard to keep calm, knowing she has left Lapis behind to face certain death, and the thought of Sugilite driving that blasted machete through Lapis's body sends tremors through her bones.

She realises that there is still the wrapped package in her hands that Lapis gave to her in the rush of madness, and she inspects it through weary eyes. It's wrapped nicely, in tissue paper and a pretty bow with a tag she flips over, wondering why in god's name it's addressed to her from Lapis, or rather, her username.

Peridot is gripping the package tight, almost scared of its contents, but eventually she tears away the paper and tissue to reveal a white card box and Peridot lifts the lid with a shaking breath.  

It's a plastic device with one red button in the centre, a smiley faced sticker on top of the glowing, red plastic.

Peridot realises that Lapis has unknowingly given her the device to disable the bomb within the building, and it's only then does Peridot's heart go into overdrive as she remembers that there is still _a fucking bomb in her mothers’s law firm_ and this device is either going to erupt disaster, or shut it down.

Peridot can feel tears pricking up _again,_ and her chest rattles in her pathetic sob. She knows she must take the only path available, to take a chance of this fucking game of roulette. 

Her watery eyes close and her lips mutely count to three. She lets her thumb press down on the glowing button. 

For a few moments, there is nothing. And then suddenly the red lights in the windows above Peridot all flash white again before fading to black.

It is over.

Peridot lets the device slip from her fingers and uses them to cover her mouth in the pure relief that she has narrowly avoided certain disaster.

When she knows there is no more threat from the bomb, her attentions return to the terror she feels for Lapis still in the building. She has to get back in the building, but how? There is no way she can climb back up the chute, slippery and a 90-degree fall.

Plus, there is another small issue regarding a bullet still lodged deep into her thigh. It hurts like hell when she attempts the stand, bullets of sweat breaking out on her forehead at the pure effort of getting to her feet and finding purchase on the brick wall for support. 

The brick is cold against her bleeding face, and it is soothing enough to help her focus on her surroundings. She's in the pick-up bay, closed off by the gate at night.

It's a high fence, and Peridot truly wonders if she might climb over it. It's her only escape, and she should at least try.

Peridot huffs and shrugs off her denim jacket, muttering a short goodbye to her favourite garment before wrapping the denim material tight as she can around the bullet wound, hissing through her teeth as she applies the pressure.

'Mother fucker....'

Sweat is dripping down her brow and Peridot finishes wrapping up the makeshift bandage and straightening up with her palms flat on her brick and steadying herself. 

It takes a little while of struggling, but Peridot eventually limps to the high fence, taking a firm grip on the thick wires that are wound into a pattern of security.

Peridot hitches her good leg up, teeth grit as her full weight is momentarily supported on her wounded leg before she's pulling herself up the fence. 

It hurts, oh god it _hurts_ , but Peridot refuses to give up, even when she nearly slips and falls halfway up her climb. By some sort of grace, she manages to make it to the top of the fence and she sits there with a heave of her chest and trying to cope with the throbbing in her leg.

It seems like a longer way down than up, and Peridot winces at the hard sidewalk below. Slowly she lifts her wounded leg over the side and she's about to make a careful attempt to climb down when the sound of a sudden voice calls from a short distance away, shocking her to her system.

'Hey! What are you doing?!'

'ACK!'

Peridot's footing slips and her grip on the fence is lost. It's not a long fall, but it feels like a tumble from a high cliff when Peridot lands to the sidewalk with a pained yelp.

Luckily, she does not fall on her wounded leg but it still hurts all the same, and she is left groaning with squeezed eyelids, curling into herself.  

The owner of the voice has heavy footsteps that rush up to Peridot quickly, a woman tall as Sugilite kneeling to Peridot’s level, attempting to use her words and hands to aid her. 

'Hey, kid, are you alright? That was a nasty fall!'

Peridot opens her eyes and gets a glimpse of long, white blonde hair and skin that is dark brown and dotted in vitiligo across her toned arms and exposed abs peeking from her shirt. The woman has a strong jaw and a handsome face with eyes that are softened in concern. Amber with golden flakes, those eyes are so familiar.

Peridot feels a steady hand under her back and she groans again. The woman says something else, but Peridot scarcely absorbs the words as she tries to focus on fighting herself to her feet.

'Kid, slow down there! You'll only hurt yourself more...'

Peridot is weak against the stranger as she is taken into a firm grip and hauled into a set of arms so that the pressure in her leg is lifted and her stomach flips at the sudden motion.

'No! Put me down!'

The stranger chuckles, 'can't do that kid, I'm taking you to the hospital.'

Her gentle voice only causes Peridot to panic, thrashing her body and refusing to be taken further away from Lapis than she already is. Especially not to a hospital where there are most likely cops at this hour- she's still playing the game, and at this point Peridot is terrified of breaking the rules considering what she has already been through. 

'NO! PUT ME THE FUCK DOWN! I NEED TO FIND MY FRIEND!'

Peridot struggles so much that eventually the stranger set’s her down, but does not let her escape, not that Peridot could in her state. She's looking properly up at the woman now, a concerned expression gazing down at her.

'Please,' Peridot begs, 'My friend- she's in that building and she's going to die!'

'Hey, nobody is going to die- but you might if you don't let me help your actual problem right now. Your leg looks pretty bad, so at least let me take you somewhere you can be treated.'

Peridot looks over the woman's shoulder and nods to where the next corner lies on the other side of the building.

'My van is outside of here, please, I have supplies in there- I can treat myself quicker than any hospital.'

The woman appears conflicted in her decision as she looks over the desperate girl in her grip, begging for such unorthodox help. Eventually Peridot is bestowed pity and she is taken into the stranger’s arms once again, heading back into the direction Peridot instructs.

Soon the van comes into view, and when the stranger asks confirmation, Peridot nods that it belongs to her (well, now it does).

The van is still unlocked and the woman takes one hand, now red and wet from Peridot's blood seeping through her ruined jacket, grabbing for the handles while supporting Peridot's weight.

The van doors open up and Peridot is lowered inside, the stranger clambering in after her.

'Okay,' she asks, 'where's the first aid?'

'Under the passenger seat...'

The woman sighs at her but gets out of the van and goes to retrieve the green medical box from the front seats. She sighs again when it is opened, berating Peridot over the precious little she has brought- the rest having been used on Lapis's injury back at the studio. 

The woman peels back the red stained jacket, grimacing when she sees the ugly bullet wound. She sucks her teeth and raises an eyebrow at Peridot in accusation; Peridot only swallows nervously.

'Okay, look. I'm going to need alcohol and proper bandages for this wound,' the woman tells her, 'there is corner shop up the road- do you promise to stay here while I go to get them? And I swear if you drive away, I _will_ call the cops.'

Peridot is rendered terrified, and she nods wordlessly. The woman's lip quirks, satisfied she's put the fear of god into Peridot and makes to get out of the van.

'Wait!'

The woman pauses before she shuts the door on Peridot, looking back.

'Yeah?'

Peridot wets her lips.

'What's your name?'

The woman smiles at her with genuine kindness.

'Name's Jasper,' she tells Peridot, 'what's yours, kid?'

'Peridot.'

'It's nice to meet you Peridot. Now, try not to die on me. I'll be right back.'

And with that the doors are shut tight on Peridot, shrouding her in darkness save for the cracks of street light bleeding in through the door hinges. Peridot drags her hand over her face, listening to Jasper walk away. She is left alone with nothing but her throbbing heart and agonizing thoughts that think nothing but of Lapis.

_Please…please be okay…_

No sooner has Jasper left, maybe a few minutes, Peridot hears someone approaching the van and the handles of the doors click, white metal thrown open to reveal a blood-soaked Lapis standing before her.

Peridot turns white and very nearly feints dead away.


	15. Side You're On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so tired, but thank you for all your comments and love. It means everything to me *mwah*
> 
> Jasper and Lapis were fun to write with the roles reversed... 
> 
> WARNING; this chapter contains themes of domestic abuse and graphic injury 
> 
> Ask away @ https://whatthemillennial.tumblr.com/
> 
> Love, Betty.

[PRESS PLAY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGCnoVrgf9c)

Time seems to slow down when Lapis finds Peridot sitting back in the van, greatly injured and face sporting a fresh cut on skin that has gone pale the moment her green eyes clap on Lapis. She looks horrible.

She looks like the most beautiful creature Lapis ever seen.

Peridot chokes out a whisper.

'You're _alive_!'

Lapis doesn't answer, she just steps into the van and drops low to cup Peridot's face in her hands, kissing her like she should have done before pushing her down that fucking chute.

'Mmmp!'

Lapis smells and tastes like copper, tangy sweat, and something that is purely her. She overwhelms Peridot's senses, but Peridot kisses her back with arms thrown around those strong shoulders. She forgets for a split second she's losing blood and Lapis is soaked from head to toe in the same fluid that probably isn't hers, but she doesn't care. She doesn't care how gross it is, Lapis is alive- they're both alive, and that is all that matters. 

'I thought you were dead,' Peridot says in a quiet voice, the kiss breaking but their lips inches apart, 'what did you do?'

Lapis closes her eyes, a small shake of her head before she's resting her forehead against Peridot's, thumbs stroking streaks of maroon over her clammy cheeks. 

'I took care of it. We're safe...for now. Are you okay? You're hurt.'

Peridot nods and clings to Lapis tighter.

'I'll be fine.'

Lapis scoffs, 'you are not fine, you took a bullet to your thigh. How did you even manage that? The bitch only had that fucking knife of hers....' 

She lifts her head and blinks.

'Wait, did you shoot yourself?'

Lapis shakes her head when Peridot flushes with embarrassment.

'Look, it doesn't matter- we have to get you fixed, okay? Let's get you out of here.' 

Lapis is standing up but Peridot grips her forearm to stop her.

'Wait, Lapis we can't!'

'We can't what?'

'We can't leave! There's this woman, she helped me- but she'll call the police if we go anywhere. Please, we have to wait.'

Groaning, Lapis pinches the bridge of her nose. This night was just getting better by the second. She briefly thinks of what to do, and then decides there is one alternative. She checks the gun in her pocket, popping out the magazine compartment. 8 bullets. More than enough.

'Lapis- what are you doing?'

Shoving back the compartment she ignores Peridot worrisome question, and gets up to take the inner door handles and slam the back doors closed. She turns back to Peridot with a finger to her lips. Peridot is horrified.

'Lapis, no! You will not kill an innocent person! She was kind to me!'

'She'll call the cops on us, stupid! And when she takes one look at me, there's no doubt. We don't have a choice!'

Peridot runs her hands through her hair at the stress of the situation, unsure of how to fix this mess. Lapis is ready to kill somebody, and that somebody is probably on her way back now, and Peridot has no way to warn her.

Peridot does her best to try and reason with Lapis, grabbing at her hand again and pulling her closer with pleading eyes.

'You're wrong, we do have a choice. Don't do this.'

Hanging her head, Lapis is finding it difficult to refuse Peridot. Peridot is good, she is too good for Lapis, and this god damned empathy of hers is only making it harder. 

'Peridot, look I-'

But her jaw is gripped with surprising strength in Peridot's hand, and her face is forced up so she's looking into Peridot's eyes, steely and face firm. Well, this is new.

'Lapis Lazuli, if you kill that woman then I will kill you myself. Nobody else dies tonight, understand? Nobody.'

Peridot looks like she's serious, and even in her weakened state Lapis can't help but believe her. This really isn't the time to be turned on by such dominance, but dear god, Lapis knows right in this moment she would happily die for this girl.

Giving in, Lapis pockets the gun and takes the hand Peridot has her face in and eases it off so she can press her lips against Peridot's fingers. Peridot watches her apprehensively.

'Okay,' says Lapis, 'we'll talk to her.'

Peridot smiles.

And then do they hear somebody approaching, and Lapis stands up to face her mystery guest. The doors open, and when Lapis sees Jasper staring back at her from the outside she is very glad she put away her gun.

After all, killing her own sister would be a new kind of low.

'Jasper!'

'Lapis?!'

Peridot's jaw drops.

'You two know each other?'

Lapis looks over Jasper, her elder sister a surprising sight to see, and she feels a great twang of sorrow when she realises how long it has been. four years, or was it five? Time seemed to move fast when you were a Lazuli.  

Jasper's hair is longer, body buffer. Yet she looks softer, prettier. Like she no longer carries a weight on her shoulders.

What she is carrying however, is a convenience store bag in one hand, and nearly drops it in the shock of seeing Lapis caked from head to toe in maroon, but this doesn't stop Lapis from jumping down and approaching Jasper, feeling uncertain. Scared of rejection.

'Hi.'

Jasper pauses for words, searching for the right thing to say. Her full lips purse and she sets down the bag, standing tall and raising her arms up and throwing them over Lapis's smaller body, pulling her into a tight hug.

Lapis goes still, unsure of what's happening. Is this real? Is this really Jasper hugging her?

It takes a moment for her own arms to wrap around Jasper's waist, face finding a place to hide in her sister's shoulder.

The embrace makes Lapis feel like a child, back when she and Jasper loved each other. She still loves Jasper. Does Jasper still love her?

Blood has seeped into Jasper's clothes a little when they part, but Jasper doesn't bother to notice and squeezes a hand on Lapis shoulder. She smiles wistfully at Lapis, and the gesture is returned.

'Oh Lappy...what have you done now?'

Lapis huffs a laugh, shaking her head like she's been asked an obvious question.

'You know me, Jasp. Something really stupid.'

Jasper nods and with one more squeeze of the shoulder she dips to retrieve the plastic bag and skirts around Lapis so she can clamber into the van.

'Come on, Lappy. Let's get your girl patched up.'

Lapis nods and gets in after her, shutting the van doors once more. She looks over at Peridot who is distracted by Jasper's fussing, and then makes to climb over the driver’s seat so she can hit the ignition, and drive them away from the crime scene. Besides, she wants to avoid conversation for now.

 In the back of the van she can hear Peridot's pained sobbing as Jasper nurses her, tweezing out the bullet pieces and disinfecting the wound, wrapping up bandages tight around Peridot's thigh. It's not as bad as Jasper has feared- a flesh wound, penetrating the muscle.

Peridot is surprised she hasn't passed out from the pain, procedure tough in a moving vehicle and without any sort of cream to numb the nerves in her muscle. She did her best to sit still and grit her teeth, but she couldn't stop the cries that accompanied the spluttering engine as Lapis drove fast.

Jasper has done her best, soothing out words of encouragement and working as quickly as she can. Eventually it's over, and Peridot succumbs to her exhaustion, passing out before her back even hits the carpeted van floor, and for a moment Jasper worries she's gone into shock.

Jasper does her best to shift Peridot into a more comfortable position from where she's over like a dead body, and no wonder. Jasper can only imagine what the fuck her little sister has been doing, and who Peridot is to her. Friend? Girlfriend? Maybe even one of Malachite's recruits.

She glances up in the dark to watch her sister drive, focusing on the road. Lapis is not the teenager she left behind four years ago- she's an adult now, and a scary looking one at that. Tattoo's and the exhausted look in her eyes is new, yet her hair is still that brilliant shade of blue, the only thing that is truly Lapis.

Lapis feels Jaspers gaze, and she glances into the rear mirror to meet it.

'Can I drive us to your place? I...I know it's not good timing, but-'

Jasper cuts her off, holding up one hand.

'Hey, stop. Of course, I'll help you. But I've moved to Beta Avenue, I don't live in the Kindergarten anymore.'

Lapis is truly taken back, who was this woman and what has she done with her sister?

'Beta Ave? Damn, that's...that's really a step up! How'd you land that?'

Jasper chuckles knowingly.

'I got a real job, unlike some people.'

Lapis's reflection shoots her a tiny, tired smile and her eyes flicker back to the road.

'That's really great. You, um, you look good, Jasp.'

'And you look fucking horrible,' Jasper said with a raised eyebrow, 'the fuck has been going on? Who's this runt?'

Lapis grip tightens a little on the steering wheel.

'Lapis?'

'I'm trying to win $500,000 with Peridot. She's my partner.'

Jasper's eyes nearly bulge out of her head.

'Jesus, $500,000? Each or split?'

'Split.'

'Thought as much. Is this game a sick show of loyalty to Mal?'

Lapis goes silent, chewing her lip as she considers her answer. They stop at a red light.

'Actually, this is my dumbass idea, to get away from Mal.'

The light turns amber, and Lapis swears harshly when she feels a harsh slap on the back of her head, Jasper clambering into the passenger seat- wide hips nearly getting stuck on the process.

'You stupid brat! You're finally brave enough to get out of Mal's craziness and you don't even call me?!'

'What the fuck! You're the one who left me!'

'It was for your own protection- hell, I could barely keep myself safe from our psycho of a sister.'

Lapis shivers when Jasper places a comforting hand on her skinny knee, but she does not shake her off, far too starved of her sister's affection than she cares to admit.

'Lapis,' Jasper says quietly, 'you know I had to leave. What happened between Mal and I was going to involve one of us killing the other. It was civil war, and I couldn't put you through that.'

'But why couldn't you have just let me come to you? We could have had been safer together. I could have had your life by now! Why'd you just fuck me over and leave me when you knew you were set?!'

Lapis feels an ugly sort of emotion bubble up in her chest, and the muscles of her throat thicken up and she chokes on her newly forming tears.

'I'm your _sister_ , I was your best friend! We were meant to have each-others backs, not turn them on each-other! And god, I hated you for that! I still hate you for that!'

Jasper struggles, watching Lapis start to break down at the wheel and knowing it's probably not to best state to be driving in, but that’s not her top priority right now.

She wishes that she'd called sooner, arranged a quick escape and a reunion better than this fucked up casualty in the back of a beat-up van. Jasper has been selfish, for valid reasons, but selfish all the same. She's thriving, and Lapis is barely surviving from what she can see.

She let go of her baby sisters hand, allowing her to drown.

'If you hate me, I'll accept that. But you're my family, and I will love you, always.'

Lapis sniffs and wipes her eyes briefly. She doesn't know what to say, and somehow Jasper understands. Her large hand doesn't leave Lapis's knee for the rest of the drive to Beta Avenue. 

***

_Lapis is woken with a start, bellowing voices practically vibrating the house and she checks her alarm on the bedside table._

_5:20 AM, 10 th of April. It's her birthday. _

_Lapis sits up, her first gift of her 18th birthday is the terrifying argument going on between her elder sisters, down in the kitchen._

_Words like 'traitor,' and 'weak' and 'bitch' are being thrown around, and Lapis knows something serious has happened. She cautiously gets out of her bed, intent on finding out what's happening._

_She's hardly surprised; Jasper and Malachite have been getting into more fights in the past few weeks than they've been eating hot dinners. Jasper's moralities clashing against Malachite's violent dictatorship, and it's been like a warzone within their family- even the Sirens getting involved in their drama._

_Lapis creaks open her bedroom door, feet bare on the expensive carpet and thin body wrapped up in a thick pyjama robe. She tucks newly dyed hair behind one pierced ear and listens intently before making the decision to move down the hall. She can hear Jasper yelling louder._

_'I can't live my life like this anymore, Mal! I love you, and Lapis, but I'm not your child and you don't own me!'_

_Lapis hurries down the hall and down the stairs, down to the lit ground floor and where she can see the moving shadows in the kitchen._

_There she finds the scene of what looks like a stand-off, Malachite holding a gun by her side, but she's more dangerous than any weapon, her face twisted in a fury Lapis has feared since she was but a child. In front of her stands Jasper, fists clenched and staring Malachite down. She's mussed in appearance, hair in a straggled ponytail and looking like she's just been in a fight. And, considering the time, it must mean a job has gone badly, and Jasper is the reason why._

_There is nobody in the kitchen but the three of them, but Lapis suspects some of Malachite's goons are hanging around somewhere in case her sisters get into an actual brawl, but not even an intervention by God could stop that._

_'What's going on?'_

_Her voice comes out strained, but both Jasper and Malachite hear her, pausing in their confrontation. Lapis shrinks under Malachite's wicked eye, the hand which isn't holding the gun reaches out to the youngest Lazuli._

_'Baby, come here,' Malachite says, 'come let me give you a birthday kiss.'_

_Lapis glances worriedly at Jasper for a second, feet walking the cold marble tile towards Malachite who gently takes her under her arm and with an iron grip on Lapis's shoulder, and lips soft on her cheek._

_'Jasper, it's Lapis's birthday. Aren't you going to wish her happy returns?'_

_Jasper's face remains stony._

_'Lapis, go back to bed.'_

_Lapis swallows when the grip becomes tighter, a warning to ignore the command._

_'How rude of you,' Malachite drawls, 'our little seawitch has finally become a woman, and what do you do? Make it all about you! Well, that just won't stand.'_

_The gun is raised and Jasper pales, stepping back when the barrel meets lines up in the direction of her head. Lapis jerks in Malachite's grip, trying to surge forward to protect her elder sister, but then a fist yanks her back by her hair, and she screams, buckling under her knees._

_'Malachite, fucking stop it!'_

_'Shut up, Jasper! I'm sick of your ungrateful attitude and disloyalty! Look around you, look at this wonderful life I've provided you! Now take a look at her-' Lapis sobs under Malachite's iron fingers, eyes desperately looking into Jasper's._

_'-Ruining her goddamn birthday! The fuck do you think you are?!'_

_Jasper is in a position that should be seen to be believed; watching her beloved sister forced to her knees and unable to move in the fear that she'll meet a bullet before she reaches Lapis. She tries to raise her hands in pacification, eye contact with Malachite unshaking._

_'Mal, please stop this. I'm begging you, this is madness.'_

_Jasper knows better than anyone that trying to reason with Malachite is like trying to reason with a snarling wolf when you have no meat to offer it, she is a double ended sword with no way to predict on how she shall fall._

_Malachite pulls the trigger. Lapis screams, and Jasper closes her eyes and waits for the bullet to hit her._

_But there is only an empty click, and Jasper feels no pain. She is very much alive, daring to open her eyes. Malachite is still holding the bulletless gun at her, Lapis still under her hand. Jasper realises she's been holding her breath, and she inhales sharply. Malachite is without remorse of the distress she’s caused._

_'That was a warning, girl,' she says with venom, 'the next time you defy me, I'll have your blood staining these walls.'_

_She finally lets Lapis go, and she doesn't hesitate to run into Jasper's arms, shaking and in tears. Jasper quickly rushes them out of the kitchen, back up to Lapis room and she shuts the door tightly behind them._

_'Oh, fuck...fuck...'_

_They sit on Lapis's bed together, curled up together like children. It's difficult on such a small space and with Jasper's size- but Lapis's is pulled up on her lap, and for a moment she feels safe._

_'Jasper, what did you do?'_

_Jasper sighs, her hand rubbing circles into Lapis's scalp where she guesses it still throbs._

_'I refused to kill someone, again...and then I told her I wanted to leave the business.'_

_'But you can't leave! Jasper, Mal will kill you if you do!'_

_'I know, but...Lap, this isn't my life. It was once, but not anymore.'_

_Lapis knows she is right, Jasper, once like Malachite, has grown into her own person. Lapis has seen the changes in her. Slow and shifting, since the day Malachite pressed a knife into Lapis's hand for her 16th birthday, and Jasper sagged in her usual proud stance, a mournful look in her eyes._

_She changed that day, became softer- more protective. And eventually, it's become spread from blood to victim. Fewer bullet's fly from Jasper's gun, those fists don't hit as hard._

_Lapis doesn't think of Jasper has her mother, but nor does she think that of Malachite. Jasper is her shield, and Malachite is the sword beating down on it. The two Queens battling it out to become King, but Jasper is only a knight. And Malachite is a dragon._

_Lapis knows one day, she will take Jasper's place. And that scares her more than anything._

_'You'll fly away,' Jasper whispers to her, 'you won't be Mal's seawitch forever, you'll find your wings one day.'_

_Lapis spends the early hours in her sister's arms, letting herself be held gentle and sung to slow. Slumber finds her, and when the sun shines in her eyes and she wakes up alone, she knows Jasper is gone. She can feel it._

_She also hears it; Malachite's bellowing for Jasper echoing off the walls of the house and her Sirens feeling the sharp edge of her anger, scrambling to fulfil her orders. Lapis leaps from her bed and runs all the way to Jasper's room, bursting in and finding it exactly as Jasper left it- but clothes are gone. Her make-up, a duffel bag. Pieces of jewellery and photos are also missing, and when she looks in the top drawer, Lapis sees the dolphin necklace she made Jasper when she was five, is no longer there._

_Lapis falls to her knees, face buried in her hands, fingers clawing at her skin._

_Jasper is gone, and she can hear an angry Malachite stomping up the stairs, calling Lapis's name..._

 

 


	16. Origami

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am going to go back to bed, think yall deserved this one <3
> 
> WARNING; this chapter contains themes of explicit sexual content. 
> 
> Ask away @ https://whatthemillennial.tumblr.com/ 
> 
> Love, Betty

[PRESS PLAY ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIFHWW2fRuQ)

 

Peridot wakes up, and she gasps like she's been starved of air. She sits up violently, wondering if she's still writhing in her nightmare of grinning demons and running in circles.

'Peridot!'

Peridot's space is invaded, and she's looking into Lapis's face, peering down at her in relief. Lapis hugs her briefly, shaking with nervous laughter.

'Finally, we were starting to get worried.'

Peridot blinks. We?

Oh. Jasper. The events come rushing back to her, and she screws up her eyes and puts the heel of her hand to her head, which aches.

'Per, are you okay?'

'Mm, m'fine. Where are we?'

'Jasper's house, in Beta Avenue.'

Lapis scratches the back of her head, sitting back. She watches Peridot open her eyes to take in the bedroom they're in; orange decor and with a pleasant odour of citrus that has been sprayed into the air. They're in the guest room, and Peridot strokes the maroon silk sheets that cover her lower body. Her right hand is found by Lapis's fingers, squeezing it tight.

'Where’s Jasper?'

'She's downstairs, with her girlfriend.'

'Shit, do you think Jasper will blab?'

'Already has, but Skinny's cool. She's one of those political rebels who hates the law, and she also hates blood all over the house.'

There are two neatly folded towels and a small shower caddy of shampoo and body wash laid out on the bedside table. Peridot can't help but smile, she decides she likes Skinny already.

Lapis helps her out of the bed, and Peridot finds she can walk with Lapis to lean on. They collect the towels and caddy, making their way into the en-suite bathroom that's surprisingly big with a spacious shower.

Then there is a second of awkward realisation. They are alone, in a very nice bathroom that is kissed by romance; jars of scented rose petals and the warmth of the underfloor heating. Not to mention the very intimate painting of two faceless lovers intertwining, hanging just above the toilet. Peridot swallows and goes pink.

'Uh, if you wanna shower first, I can leave.'

'No- I mean, that shower is big enough for us both- shit, um, I mean, you need help to stand, right?'

Peridot is slowly recovering from the numbed pain, realising the wound has been re-bandaged with fresh stitches and antiseptic cream. She'll be able to walk just fine soon, but she doesn't want to correct Lapis.

They are still very much alone, and for the moment, they are safe. They have received no more texts or calls from Neon Devils, and while that worries Peridot, she forces to push it from her mind. She is alone with Lapis; the only person Peridot wants to be with right now.

Peridot shifts her body and looks Lapis in the eyes, a wordless request when she raises her arms.

'Help me?'

Lapis snorts a giggle, 'god, you dork,' under her breath, but she does as asked and takes the hem of Peridot's cropped sweater, and raises it up and over her head, revealing a simple black bra. Lapis smiles softly, dropping the garment and running her hands over the tan skin, tracing the silly tattoo Peridot bares over her ribs. Peridot shivers under her cool fingers that dip lower to the elastic of her leggings.

Lapis ceases the actions of undressing her partner, skirting around Peridot to the shower- opening the glass door and turning the silver lever, pre-set water rushing from the shower head, steam rising in a thick cloud and fogging up the surfaces.

Peridot watches with a light head and hungry eyes as Lapis, still with her back turned, peels off her stained shirt and borrowed jeans- white underwear coming off and falling to the floor. Peridot can see all that strong, swimmers body in full glory, tattoo's all over Lapis's shoulders, down her arms and on her back. 

Illustrations of sea waves and goddesses of Greece. Blooming flowers, the sun and the moon. Peridot sees a kraken that starts at Lapis's shoulder and travels down her left arm, ending at her hand where Peridot saw the details, but was unable to pin them to a finished piece. A set of watery wings are spread out like a watercolour painting across the blades of Lapis's shoulders, the low of her back reveals a sad looking mermaid chained down to an anchor, holding a broken heart in one hand, a bleeding dagger in the other. 

When Lapis turns, Peridot is somewhat endeared to see that her front has not been touched by ink, breasts that are smaller than her own, and a stomach defined in those spectacular abs.

And then Lapis returns to her, stripping down the leggings, carefully over the bandage, and helping Peridot step out of them. She returns to her feet with Peridot in her grasp, lifting her by the thighs and careful to mind her injury- but Peridot doesn't care. She dips her head and captures Lapis's lips with hers in a passionate kiss, like they have all the time in the world.

Lapis walks them into the shower, and Peridot giggles when she's set on the porcelain floor, Lapis's hands ticking her sides. The spray of hot water feels wonderful, and she sighs and tips her head back, letting herself just enjoy the moment.

A set of lips kiss under her jaw, Lapis lathering attention over her body with a loofer soaped up in sweet smelling liquid. Peridot returns the favour and, runs her hands through Lapis's blue hair, the water running red as the blood and dirt drains away. She reaches for the shampoo and squirts a huge yellow blob on Lapis's head, both girls giggling at the squelching noise.

Lapis sighs, allowing Peridot to massage a lather into her scalp, and guiding her head to rinse the soapy bubbles away when she's finished. It's like heaven, Peridot's gentle hands dancing over her body soothingly, like she knows Lapis's body like the piano Lapis spotted back in Peridot's apartment.

They take their time cleaning, gentle with one another. Lapis feels reenergised, like she can take on the world. But first she wants to take Peridot, right up on this shower wall.

Both know they shouldn't be doing this.

Peridot gasps when she feels the clasp of her bra come undone, forgetting she's not actually taken it off yet. She's helped of it soon enough, sopping material thrown out of the shower with a splat when they hit the tile floor.

Lapis hitches Peridot up in her arms again, bodies hot as they are pressed together and the temperature rising another few degrees as they kiss with lust. Peridot's back hits the shower wall, gasping at the coldness. When her mouth opens, Lapis dips in for a taste. They moan in unison, Lapis drunk on Peridot and the way she smells, the way she tastes. She needs more.

Peridot groans when she feels Lapis's hands dipping low to spread her wide, kneading Peridot's ass leisurely like she owns it, slapping the thick flesh once for good measure.

Peridot grips Lapis like a vice, kissing her forehead tenderly and gasping against the wet skin when she feels long fingers massaging her vaginal hole.

'God,' Lapis hisses, 'you're so wet.' 

Peridot nods twice when her consent is requested, and then Lapis is fucking her with a steady pace, fingers pumping in and out and kissing the skin where Peridot's heart beats rapidly.

'Ah! Ah, hah!' 

She is fucked faster, mouth wide as she moans and begs for more. Lapis very nearly loses her grip on Peridot, when she feels teeth sinking into her neck with the intent to mark her, blunt nails dragging over upper back. She crooks her fingers within Peridot's heated walls of muscle, and finally she locates the sensitive flesh of Peridot's g-spot, thrusting harder so that Peridot bites down roughly, her screaming muffled where her mouth is now attached to Lapis's shoulder. 

She comes with stars in her vision and with dirty whispers in her ear. Lapis allowing her to catch a breath before she kisses Peridot's lips once more, the hands she fucked Peridot with now setting her on her feet and steadying her with a grip on her hips.

The water runs a little cooler, and Peridot reaches lazily to turn it off, spent from her orgasm. Then she reaches low on Lapis's body, fingers brushing past the course hair and to the dripping lips of Lapis's cunt, wet with need. Lapis's head falls onto Peridot's shoulder, and Peridot cups the curve of her neck while she fingers Lapis, working up her pleasure. She massages the clit with her thumb, eliciting out a sharp cry from Lapis's lips, and her hips are gripped tighter.

One finger pushes into Lapis, pumping in and out, slow and gentle. Then two, Peridot becomes rougher. Three, Lapis cursing in a low voice when Peridot kisses under her ear, and she feels that lighting spark of pleasure when Peridot touches her just the right way.

'Come for me,' Peridot breathes in a tone Lapis finds so sexy, and she grinds down on Peridot's hand, panting against her shoulder. She needs it harder, and Peridot grants that need with a rough jerk of her wrist against the muscle of her inner nerves, sending Lapis over the edge with a soft cry of Peridot's name, body shaking when she comes.

They say nothing, their breathing the only noise in the quiet bathroom. Two sets of arms are wrapped around wet bodies, holding themselves in an embrace Peridot wishes she could live in forever.

But then the guilt seeps in; thoughts of Amethyst and the realisation she just fucked a stranger in another stranger's bathroom, on top of being caught in the middle of a death trap waiting game.

She tries to push the invasive thoughts away, but she won't be able to ignore them for much longer. She's no innocent, but neither is Lapis. She's had sex with a drug lord's murderous sister, and to be honest, she's concerned on how little that bothers her. It only bothers her she might have to let Lapis go, sooner or later.

They kiss a little more before exiting the shower, drying off with the clean towels and finding clean underwear, plain t-shirts that are a size too big and jeans that Lapis recognizes as her exact size, folded on the velvet loveseat. They dress, and Lapis combs her hair back, remembering to tidy away the dirty clothes in the hamper before they go to find their gracious hosts downstairs, fingers interlocked.

***

Skinny is exactly the definition of her name, a lanky, Asian woman that boasts Jasper's lofty height, and they make quite the intimidating couple. Peridot finds herself nervous of Skinny at first, but then she's thrown a dazzling smile and kissed by the cheeks the second Skinny lays eyes on the pair, appearing in the kitchen archway.

'Peridot, it's so good to have you finally awake! Come, you must be hungry.'

She speaks with a fancy accent, cool and aloof. She's not traditionally pretty, but nor is she unpleasant to look at, with bleached white hair that seems to have a life of its own, and flawless, olive skin that smells of jasmine.

Skinny invites them to sit at the red wood table, a stark contrast to the white of the kitchen. Jasper is already seated there, sipping at a mug of coffee and fondly watching her girlfriend make a fuss of their guests.

Two more mugs of coffee are poured for Peridot and Lapis, which they drink back greedily. Skinny then places two bowls of rich smelling ramen before them, and Peridot realises how hungry she suddenly is. Skinny beams when Peridot takes a bite and moans around the flavour.

'That ramen is made from scratch, she says proudly, 'none of that packet crap.'

Lapis swallows her own mouthful.

'This is really good, thank you. And thanks again for setting us up like this.'

Skinny’s hand gestures a flippant wave, and smiles easily.

'Don't be ridiculous, Jasper's family is my family. You're very welcome in our home, Lapis. The both of you.'

Lapis can tell why Jasper is with Skinny. Warmth and care radiates from her being, a selfless person with a big heart. Lapis has never known a mother, not really, but she imagines Skinny is what one should be like.

Skinny places a hand over Jasper's, and continues to speak.

'Jasper has filled me in on your recent adventures,' she says with a raised eyebrow, 'and I'm not impressed. What do you think you’re playing at? Neon Devil’s is dolled up suicide.'

Peridot and Lapis look at each-other. They hadn't mentioned the game in context once.

'How did you-'

'$500,000 and blood everywhere? I've known many others who went to such lengths, looking for a thrill or seeking wealth. None of it ended well for a single one of them. You're in deep, by the looks of things.'

Peridot nods, feeling small under Skinny's scolding, reminded of her own moms. Lapis puts down her fork.

'We've not had another call or text since I- um. Since we left the law firm. Do you think we should be worried?'

'Very. But it doesn't necessarily mean you're losing, it means they're looking for ways to make the game harder. They want to scare you, because you've done something to scare them.'

Lapis thinks back to the moment she slashed Sugilite's head from her shoulders, and her appetite is lost. She glances at Peridot, who is eating steadily and listening intently to what Skinny is telling them. Lapis takes another sip of coffee; the caffeine fix helps clear her head.

She's about to ask for top up of the coffee, when she feels a buzzing in her back pocket, phone tinging it's ringtone. Everyone falls silent, anticipating Lapis to answer it.

She does so with an encouraging nod from Skinny, tapping the screen once to connect the call, putting it on speakerphone.

_'Good Evening L_008. I must say, two challenges in and you've defeated Sugilite already. Court will confess, we are impressed.'_

Peridot's eyes flicker to Lapis, but Lapis stares directly at her phone.

'I'm glad we've met your standards,' she replies with sarcasm, and the voice counters the snipe with a click of the tongue.

_'You've proven to us your make a team worth watching, you're an entertaining pair. For this, Court extends a direct invitation to complete a single challenge for double the money.'_

Lapis's fingers curl into fists, even Skinny appears concerned, a look in her eye Lapis cannot place.

'I assume your invitation comes as a clue?'

_'You pick up quickly. But you do not have all the time in the world, I urge you to avoid taking much more refuge than you need. Court wishes you luck.'_

The call is cut, and a text sent through seconds later.

Lapis takes in the time before she reads it. 2:30 AM. Shit, wasn't it 11 only an hour ago? Peridot's chair squeaks as she leans to read the text with Lapis.

UNKNOWN NUMBER

IMAGES OF A THOUSAND WORDS, STORIES OF OLD. ENRICHED TO THE FULL, AWE OF A CHILD. 

Lapis pushes the phone to Skinny to see, and she reads it once and passes it to Jasper. who's face twists in disgust, squeezing Skinny's hand.

'Babe, I don't like this.'

Skinny sighs, peering at the text once more like she's trying to crack the code.

'Neither do I. But, these girls made their decision. Now we have to find a way of making sure they come out of it alive.'

Lapis feels Peridot's fingers under the table, fidgeting with the hem of her t-shirt, not quite reaching to take her hand. Lapis meets her halfway, seeking the comfort.

'How can you help us?'

Skinny winks at them, and Jasper sighs at her girlfriend's new-found enthusiasm that clearly means trouble.

'To do that, I’m going to have to make a phone call to some friends of mine. You’re going to need all the help you can get.’


	17. Danger Zone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things get tense, and we come to a crossroad. Or should I say crossfire? 
> 
> Thank you all again for the wonderful comments and the love! Mwah! 
> 
> Ask away @ https://whatthemillennial.tumblr.com/
> 
> Love, Betty.

 

[PRESS PLAY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siwpn14IE7E) 

The Watermelon Island is a dome-like cocktail bar, located near the business quarter. When Pearl and Garnet reach the venue, they find it closed. Pearl stops in hesitation.

 ‘Garnet, do you think she’ll help us?’

‘I have no doubt.’

‘But we nearly destroyed this place!’

‘She’s also our friend who happens to hate Malachite more than anybody, including us.’

Pearl wishes to argue more, but they’re already walking up to the double glass doors. Locked tight and dark inside, but Garnet reaches up to press her thumb against a tiny, white flashing finger-pad on the left handle. She holds it for two seconds, and then an invisible intercom crackles to life.

 _‘It’s ten to twelve, what do you want?_ ’ 

Garnet answers the deep, irritant voice.

‘We need your help, it’s urgent.’

_‘Garnet. Why?’_

‘It’s Malachite, we have a hostage situation.’

The intercom crackles white noise while the voice is quiet, the owner pondering over Garnet’s words. Pearl shoots Garnet a glance of apprehension, but then the intercom goes dead and there is a soft click as the doors unlock.

Garnet and Pearl enter the fancy bar. It is eerily quiet, in the daytime hours it would be glowing in soft light, the water fountain in the centre a spectacular sight, with tropical plants gracing the gleaming interior. They walk past tables with upturned chairs, all the way through to the kitchens in the back.

Three metal doors are their destination, labelled as freezers in shiny red stickers. When Garnet tugs at the far-right handle, all three open together to reveal a bright, white hallway, that leads all the way down to a red door.

Garnet allows Pearl past before she closes the connected doors, and they set down the hallway, footsteps tapping on the brick floor. They reach the door which opens with a hissing slide, and behind it stands the lofty figure that is Alexandrite. Her arms are crossed, glaring down at Garnet and Pearl who stand before her, a hostile look on her long face.

She’s older looking than they remember her; hair whiter and a wrinkle or two that graces the dark skin of her face, but not from the age.

Alexandrite is wrapped in a silken dressing gown and slippers, and she suddenly reaches out to pull the pair into a bone-crushing hug, smelling like mint and tea.

The hug is a surprise, and Pearl can’t help but cling to Alexandrite tightly. Garnet rests her hand gentle on the small of Alex’s back. The moment is brief, but savoured. In fairness to Alexandrite, Garnet had not expected her to be so warming.

Then the moment is over, and Alexandrite is glaring down at them like a scolding mother to her insolent children.

‘I assume Amethyst is among the hostage situation?’

‘You’d be correct,’ Pearl answers with a nod, ‘Steven too.’

Alexandrite nods slowly, eyes flickering in thought. She turns her back and gestures to the pair, hand waving over her shoulder.

‘Come with me,’ she says.

One airy staircase up is where Alexandrite leads them, a hard wood door shows them into her home.

The apartment is disconnected from the Watermelon Bar's dome exterior; hallway and staircase acting as tunnel into the set of flash apartments on the other side. Alexandrite’s apartment is on the first floor, a clean yet busy living space with a tasteful colour scheme of cream, bronze and forest green.

There are many pictures of memories on the walls, and Pearl notices that she, Garnet and Amethyst are in most of them.

Alexandrite softly instructs them to sit on the faux leather couch, heading into the kitchenette to fill the kettle with hot water.

‘Alex, there really isn’t time for beverages,’ Garnet tries to protest, but Alexandrite doesn’t even turn around as she reaches she the dry roasted coffee.

‘There is always time for coffee, now please sit down. You have woken me, and I need caffeine.’

Garnet’s argument dies on her lips, and they wait wordlessly as Alexandrite makes up three cups of coffee, all made to preferential taste. Pearl feels a fondness that Alexandrite remembers such things.

Alexandrite comes to sit opposite them and takes a long sip from her mug, crossing one leg over the other. She swallows.

‘When did Malachite take them?’

Garnet takes out her phone and hands it over.

‘We received an SOS text from Steven about half an hour ago, I suspect Malachite’s confiscated their phones by now.’

Alex inspects the text.

‘Why were they in Malachite’s crawls of the city?’

‘We’re not sure where they were,’ Pearl says carefully, ‘but we were on a search party for a friend, she’s currently in the company of Lapis.’

Alexandrite head snaps up, emerald eyes fixing them with a challenging glare.

‘Who is this friend of yours?’

‘Peridot Zircon, she’s Amethyst’s girlfriend, or was. We have reason to believe she might be involved with the Lazuli’s.’

‘Then why were you looking for her? If she’s been comprised by a Lazuli, then she’s no longer your friend.’

Garnet leans forward and sets down her own mug, meaning business.

‘Peridot is part of our family, she’s a part of the Crystal Gems, and we have an obligation to aid her.’

Alexandrite sucks her teeth, turning to Pearl.

‘Do _you_ share these views?’

Pearl nods, mournful.

‘I do.’

Alexandrite takes a deep inhale of air, reaching up to ghost her fingers over the long scar under her jaw. Pearl feels a wave a nausea watching Alex stroke along the thin line of heavy skin, the memory of watching her earn it, still fresh in her mind.

‘You girls…you’ll all be the death of me. But like it or not, we are family. We’ve lost people along the way, and I won’t let Malachite destroy what I have left.’

She rises to her feet and holds out a hand each for them to take. Garnet and Pearl slip their fingers into Alexandrite’s, the eldest woman gripping them tight in determination.

‘I promise you that we will find Amethyst and Steven, even Peridot. We’ll find them, and I won’t let Malachite escape. Not this time.’   

Pearl is almost tearful in admiration, a promise made as they stand with intertwined fingers, even when they are missing two hearts from the circle.

‘The Crystal Gems, back together!’

Alexandrite sighs, but her lip quirks at the remark.

‘And we’ll always save the fucking day. But first, I’m going to need some clothes and the biggest shot gun that the Zoo has to offer. Ladies, we have some Lazuli’s to hunt down.’

***

_‘Yo yo, you’ve reached the Zoo, who’s calling?’_

‘Carnelian, it’s me.’

_‘Eyyy Skinny! What’s happening girl?’_

‘Carn, I need a favour from the Zoo, do you think you can help me out?’

_‘Shit, what for?’_

‘Jasper’s sister, Lapis. She’s got herself into a knot. Normally I wouldn’t ask for non-members, but this is a biggie.’

There is a low whistle on the line.

_‘What you’re asking is a biggie, too. The Zoo doesn’t help outsiders.’_

Skinny can feel herself becoming exasperated, tapping her fingers rapidly on the wall. She watches from the window, Jasper and Lapis talking on the front porch. She can only guess what they’re discussing.

‘Carn, come on. I never ask for anything out of urgency, you know that. You can talk them around, or at least let me.’

_‘Geez, man. My night has been crazy enough. Can you give me a little context here?’_

‘Remember what happened to Olivine and Beryl?’

There’s a long groan.

_‘You’ve gotta be fucking with me. Fine! Fine, but you owe me.’_

‘Of course, Carn. Thank you, sis.’

_‘Yeah, yeah. See you soon.’_

Skinny cuts the call and breathes a sigh of relief, thankful she would always have Carnelian on her side. She returns the phone to its place on the landline. She’s about to walk herself back to the kitchen, but she sees the movement of a figure in the living room.

On her discovery is the sight of Peridot, sitting on the velvet couch and peering at a photo frame in her hands. Skinny watches her for a moment, observing just how little she is. So very young.

Skinny approaches, and the sound of her movement alerts Peridot, causing her to jump in her seat.

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry!’

But Skinny smiles wanly, coming to join Peridot on the couch, their shoulders touching. Skinny takes a glance at the photo Peridot has selected. It’s one of Jasper’s memories, taken when she was young. Lapis is a small child on her hip, grinning bright. 

‘They are so much alike, yet they look so different,’ Skinny muses, ‘I’m still discovering Jasper’s past, bit by bit. Like blood from a stone, it’s hard to get it out from her.’

‘How long have you been together?’

Skinny hands the photo frame back to Peridot.

‘Three years… but the day I saw her, I swear it felt like the rest of my life.’

She pauses in the warm of her memory, a dark cloud looming.

Peridot blinks in surprise, when Skinny raises a lanky hand and runs it through her hair, and then a soft stroke on her freckled cheek.

‘You’re such a sweet girl,’ Skinny murmurs softly, ‘how did you end up here?’

Peridot finds she has no answer, the reasons muddled and the words she tries to form jumble in her mouth. Her face is still cupped in Skinny’s hand, and the realisation of how much she has screwed up comes crashing down like bricks, but she has no more tears left to cry.

‘I don’t know,’ she answers in a hoarse whisper, ‘I don’t know.’

Skinny loses her smile, nodding with understanding. She pats Peridot’s cheek gently, before taking the picture frame from Peridot’s loose grasp.

‘It’s hard, you know. I would have liked a daughter. Maybe one like you.’

Peridot watches quietly, Skinny placing the picture frame back to its space on the mantelpiece. She traces the image of Lapis’s face.

‘It’s actually quite funny,’ she continues, ‘when I found out about Lapis, I’d hoped she’d come and live with us… that maybe I could give her a proper home, a family with Jasper and I.’ 

Peridot swallows, the conversation becoming slightly uncomfortable, opening the closet where Skinny hung her corpses.

‘You’re young, Skinny. You can have children, adoption and surrogacy are all options.’

Skinny shakes her head, but only in bemusement.

‘You are such a sweet girl… so sweet. But I think we should be finding the others. Are you ready?’

Peridot really isn’t. She wants to go back upstairs to bed, and for a moment, she’s tempted to ask.

Instead she takes the hand Skinny extends, and they exit the living room and outside to where Lapis and Jasper still sit on the porch steps, disturbing the conversation, but Jasper smiles at the sight of her girlfriend.

‘How did it go with the Zoo?’

‘Well, they’ll lend us a gun or two. But you,’ she points a finger in Lapis’s direction, ‘best behaviour. Carnelian is doing me a solid.’

Lapis flashes a glare at Skinny, clearly insulted by the look on her face. But Peridot is caught by the mention of Carnelian’s name, and of the Zoo, warning bells ringing in her head.

‘Did you just say the Zoo?’

The words come out before she can stop them, and Peridot blushes when the three stare at her in question.

‘How do you know about that? You’re not a member there.’

‘No, but…Carnelian, right? She’s Amethyst’s cousin. She works as security for the Temple Hub, too.’

Lapis huffs when she gets up from the porch steps, the threat of having to deal with Peridot’s ex-girlfriend rather unappealing.

‘Fuck me, this city is too small.’

‘No, kid. We just made too many ghosts.’

Lapis rolls her eyes at her sister.

‘Fucking demons, more like.’

 Skinny claps her hands for silence.

‘Enough, we’ve wasted enough time. Everyone get in the car- oh, no, not you,’ she’s pointing at Lapis again, and Lapis groans, ceasing her walk down the front steps after Jasper.

‘Fucking hell! What?’

‘You’re taking your birthday present.’

Lapis stares at Skinny indecorously, brows kitted together.

‘My fucking what now?’

‘Lapis! Don’t be so rude!’

‘What!’

Peridot grimaces, Lapis’s social manners hardly etiquette, but Skinny doesn’t appear bothered, and nods over to Jasper.

‘Show her?’

Jasper chuckles softly and reaches out to take Lapis’s arm.

‘C’mon, Lappy. I think this one is overdue.’

Lapis grumbles, but it’s only for show, already intrigued by what Jasper has to show her. It’s not her birthday, which increases her curiosity. She motions at Peridot.

‘Are you coming?’

Peridot glances at Skinny, but she’s met by a kind smile and a kiss to her forehead.

‘You go with them, I need to grab a few things.’

She returns to the house, and Peridot lets herself watch Skinny go before she’s following Lapis and Jasper, all the way to the garage connected to the side of the white-painted house. Peridot looks around, taking in a good view of the neighbourhood.

Beta Avenue is a respectable little cul-de-sac right on the docks of the city, where tourists come to see boat shows. It’s a place that her own parents used to live, back when she was a baby. It’s very out of place for somewhere like Empire City, full of charm and a neighbourhood watch. Street lamps and perfectly trimmed bushes, not to mention the running theme of range rovers on every driveway. Peridot wonders what Skinny and Jasper do for a living.  

‘Holy shit!’

Peridot is snapped out of her thoughts when she hears Lapis’s shrill voice coming from the garage, and she jogs past the car on the driveway to join the sisters. She finds Lapis, and the cause of her outcry. 

In the garage Jasper is holding a blue tarp in her hands, presumably revealing the brand spanking new Harley Davidson Lapis is staring in awe at.

‘It’s a Street Rod,’ Jasper explains, ‘9000 rpm, it’s a clean rider for any landscape- especially in this city. We had it customized, even though it didn’t come with a blue paint job. Do you like it?’

Lapis is rendered speechless, lips parted and eyes wide. She circles the bike and smooths a hand over the seats, taking an experimental grip on the handlebars. She’s enamoured by the gift, yet looks up to Jasper with uncertainty.

‘Why are you giving this to me?’

Jasper sighs, scratching the side of her neck. She diverts her eyes in guilt.

‘It was going to be for your 19th birthday,’ she explains, ‘but…I dunno. I just couldn’t bring myself to contact you. It’s been sat here for a good three years now, and now seems a better time than ever for you to have her.’  

Lapis grins with stretched lips and white teeth, wide and looking the happiest Peridot has seen her all night. She throws her arms around Jasper’s shoulders, and Jasper laughs good-naturedly, hugging her back.

‘Oh, I almost forgot-‘ she says when she lets Lapis go, ‘helmets! Safety first, right?’

She retrieves two crash helmets, both black, from the dusty shelf in the back of the garage, and hands each of them over to Lapis and Peridot.

‘The spare is…well, I was hoping you’d have found someone to share that bike with. You’re a lucky girl to have my sister, Peridot.’

Peridot blushes bright red, and tries to stammer out an excuse, but Lapis nudges her shoulder with a cheeky smile.

‘Yeah, she is.’

Peridot throws a bashful smile back to Lapis, the helmet gripped tight in her hands. She feels something strange in her heart, budding and warm. It feels like hope, and she can see it in the way Lapis is looking at her.

If only these circumstances weren’t so bleak.

Lapis Looks like she’s about to say something more, but then Skinny appears. Heeled boots replaced her slippers, and they give her a few more inches in her height, tapping on the concrete. She’s holding a small duffel bag on her arm, and Peridot can only imagine what’s in there.

‘I see she likes the ride, are you ready to go, babe?’

Jasper and Skinny get into the car, and Peridot hitches on the bike behind Lapis. She realises she’s never been on a motorcycle before, and suddenly she feels nervous and grips onto Lapis like a vice, the helmet heavy on her head. 

Lapis hit the ignition and revs up the cycle, the vibrations through her bones, and Peridot’s rapid heartbeat on her back a thrill.

They follow Jasper and Skinny’s car out of Beta Avenue, speeding fifteen minutes through the city. They leave the spotless streets behind for graffitied walls, and Peridot gets a bad feeling- but maybe that’s just her privilege talking.  

They pull up outside a run-down bar, almost a saloon. It’s bathed in indigo spotlights, and a sign just above the door reads ZOO in fluorescent letters. Heavy rock can be heard from inside, and the feeling in Peridot’s gut worsens.  

She takes off her helmet, watching Skinny and Jasper get out of the car. Skinny goes to talk to the bouncer outside, while Jasper locks up the car. Peridot and Lapis set their helmets under the bike seat, surprisingly roomy, and they all follow Skinny, the bouncer opening the door with a curt nod.

The Zoo is full of people, mostly burly women, and Skinny stands out like a sore thumb as she weaves through the crowd. However, she’s a welcome face, greeted with fist bumps and nods of respect. Even Jasper is shaken by the hand, but Peridot and Lapis are met with looks of hostility- outsiders.

‘Skinny, long time no see, girl!’

Peridot stops taking in the surroundings of the bar, warmly lit and dangerously occupied. She sees Skinny slapping the hand of a woman barely taller than Peridot, with bright red hair that matches her eyes, and Peridot recognizes her immediately are Carnelian.

‘Thanks for this, Carn,’ Skinny says with earnest, ‘is everything good?’

Carnelian shifts uncomfortably, and her eyes dart around the room.

‘Sure, but… there’s something you should know, Sugilite’s gone AWOL.’

Skinny goes stiff, and Lapis’s blood runs cold.

‘What do you mean? She’s vanished?’

‘Like a damn ghost! She ain’t answering her phone, didn’t come back from her job, nothin’!’

‘Maybe she’s tied up in another arrangement?’

Carnelian slips the cigarette that’s tucked behind her ear and lights up.

‘That’s what I thought too,’ she breathes out a puff of smoke, ‘but here’s the thing, word on the streets is that Malachite’s goons have been prowling the areas on Alexandrite’s turf.’

Jasper huffs, trying to scoff over the tension.  

‘That’s nothing new, my sister always has her idiots looking for somebody.’

‘But it’s just unusual, especially after what happened with the Crystal Gems. Anyway, we’re all just worried. She’s a fuckin’ asshole, but Sugi is family.’

Peridot watches Skinny as she mulls over Carnelian’s words, feigning concern. Then she places a supportive hand on Carnelian’s shoulder and smiles with encouragement.

‘Sugilite is a livewire, and whatever Malachite’s up to, I’m sure Alexandrite will put her in her place. Now, you have something for us?’

Carnelian inhales another breath of smoke, and exhale’s shortly.

‘You bet, but..’ she gives Peridot and Lapis the eye, ‘these two gotta stay put, can’t have them in the inventory. How about a drink on the house?’

‘Actually-‘ Peridot takes Lapis’s upper arm, ‘I need to use the rest room. Lapis, come with me?’

Lapis flashes a fake smile to Carnelian, playing along.

‘Sure, mind pointing us in the right direction?’

Carnelian snubs the cigarette out, pointing with her thumb behind her. She hasn’t seemed to recognize Peridot yet, and Peridot intends to keep it that way.

‘Upstairs to the left, can’t miss it.’

‘Thanks.’

Lapis allows Peridot to drag her away, all the way up the rickety stairs and into the poorly lit bathroom. It’s dank, and they can hear lips smacking in the fifth stall down. Peridot and Lapis lock themselves in the first one up.

‘I can’t believe Sugilite was a fucking member,’ Lapis hisses, ‘can this get any worse?’

‘Is…she dead?’

Lapis deadpans.

‘I sliced her head from her shoulders, of course she’s dead!’

Peridot buries her face in her hands, feeling nauseous.

‘Oh my god…’

Lapis reaches up to gently pull Peridot’s hands into hers.

‘Don’t panic. The bastards have probably cleared the body by now. They wouldn’t let anybody who shouldn’t, see the evidence. I doubt anybody will ever track this back to us. They don’t even know where Sugilite went.’  

‘But what if they find out? On the off chance anyone suspects anything, we’ll end up dead! And I doubt even Skinny could talk her way out of that one, she’d be an associate to us. She and Jasper would be in danger too.’

‘No, listen to me. We get these guns, we get out, we find the final checkpoint and we finish this night $100,000 richer. Nobody gets hurt, not my sister, not Skinny,’ she cradles Peridot’s hands, ‘and especially not you.’

‘You can’t promise that.’

Lapis wets her lip, let’s go of Peridot’s hands and runs one hers through her blue locks in exasperation. They can still hear the couple making out in the last stall, undisturbed. Peridot knows she’s poking the dragon, but she can’t help it. She’s scared.

‘I promise I’ll protect you,’ Lapis finally says. Peridot purses her lips and rests her forehead against Lapis’s.

‘And I’ll protect you.’

Lapis giggles.

‘You focus on looking after yourself, dummy. Now let’s get back, I think we both need something strong.’

They exit the bathroom and back to the bar, holding hands. They find Jasper sitting at the sticky, crowded bar. She sipping at a whisky, and they join her. Lapis raises her eyebrows.

‘Carnelian doesn’t trust you?’

Jasper raises her glass to them.

‘I’m a Lazuli, of course they don’t trust us. I don’t think they ever will, and I can hardly blame them.’

She glances at Lapis, a darker look in her eyes.

‘If I were you, I’d keep your head down while we’re here. Have a drink- preferably soft.’

Lapis scoffs at her sister, but orders a lemonade anyway. Peridot orders a bourbon, she’s not driving.

The whisky eases her shaking hands, the burn in her throat somewhat comforting. She’s not a big spirit kind of girl, but it helps.

They wait a few minutes, sipping at their drinks. Peridot feels eyes on her back, and when she dares to look around, her paranoia proves correct. People are talking with low voices, glaring suspiciously. Peridot winces and looks down at her half-empty glass, tapping her fingers against it.

To merciful relief, Skinny and Carnelian return to the room, the taller woman carrying an even bigger bag, and two hug tightly. Skinny approaches them, trying to keep the grave expression from her face.

‘We should go,’ she mutters with a low voice, ‘Sugilite’s disappearance has started to cause disruption downstairs, I barely managed to get what we needed, Jay and the others went on a search party. Lapis and Peridot cannot be here when they find out she’s dead.’

Jasper nods, and she’s ready to usher the four of them out of the bar, when the front door opens and somebody cries out with glee.

‘Aye! Alex, Crystal Gems! Nice ta’ see yous!’

Peridot drops the glass, and it smashes on the floor.

Oh, _fuck._


	18. Mother We Share

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter got so long, so I had to split it in two. I was practically tearing out my hair writing these scenes, and I hope you can all bear with me. I'm trying out some flexibility with the characters, RIP me. 
> 
> WARNING; this chapter contains themes of violence and mentions of still birth/miscarriage 
> 
> Ask away @ https://whatthemillennial.tumblr.com/
> 
> Love, Betty.

[PRESS PLAY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mTRvJ9fugM)

_‘Alex, I hit it!’_

_Alexandrite smiles over the rim of her coffee cup, steam hot against her face, a welcome heat in this blistering winter they’re having. A few steps away Skinny beams toothily at her, braces having fixed up that smile well. Gloved fingers grasp a hand gun, the bullet having flown and hit the target of a mannequin half a mile away._

_Alexandrite has to tip her hat; her newest protégée will become a sniper yet._

_Leaning off the fence that surrounds the shooting grounds, Alexandrite leaves her mug balancing on a hay stack and trudges through the snow to join the young teenager._

_‘Very good, you’ll catch up to the others in no time.’_

_Skinny scowls and starts to reload._

_‘Why are Garnet and Pearl your favourites,’ she accuses, ‘Amethyst can’t even hold a bat yet!’_

_'Now, now. Jealousy is an ugly emotion, I won’t have you feel it. But-‘Alexandrite ruffles Skinny’s fluffy hair, ‘I am very proud of you. Well done.’_

_Skinny loses her scowl, but she does not smile. Unconvinced of her mentor’s love._

_‘Right...Thanks, Mom.’_

***

Alexandrite is not a foolish woman, and the second she leaves with what is left of the Crystal Gems, she feels a shift in the air. Something is happening in this city, specifically on her grounds.

She has a car, a respectable land cruiser she’s about to allow Garnet and Pearl into. It’s a good half-hour drive to the Zoo, and her best AMO is in their inventory; her home kept revolver just won’t cut it. However, something tells her riding in a car with a potentially recognizable licence plate, isn't going to give them much stealth. She always trusts her gut instincts, no matter what.

 ‘We’re walking,’ she says plainly, Garnet and Pearl mid-way of getting into the vehicle.

‘What? But the Zoo is 30 minutes away! If we walk, it will take even more time.’

Alex glowers at Pearl.

‘Trust me on this. We walk. Now let’s get going, and be on your guard.’

Garnet hitches her shades and she shuts the car door, encouraging Pearl to do the same. If Alexandrite senses something already, then they have a great deal to worry about. She zips up her jacket, even though she feels no cold.

They set off, and while they walk, Pearl can’t help but feel uneasy about being so out in the open. She slips her arm into Garnet’s, and while it’s not really time for physical affection, Garnet does not push her away. 

At first, Alexandrite’s paranoia seems to be just chill on the shoulder, keeping in the shadows and out of street lights. Pearl is ready to suggest a cab, but then Alexandrite stops suddenly, and the two nearly crash into her like a brick wall.

‘Alex?’

‘Shut it,’ Alexandrite mutters, ‘this is why we’re walking. Look there.’

Pearl and Garnet look to where she’s directed her gaze, right across the street where a mini mart is, and they see them. Two women wearing red, velvet suits. One with a black afro pulled into a bun, the other has hers dyed red, and flowing free, wearing an eyepatch. Alexandrite remembers scooping out that eye.  

It’s Enid and Lola, or better known as Eyeball and Leggy. They’re two of Malachite’s bodyguards, and Alexandrite can take a few guesses on why they’re here in her neck of the woods. It’s too close to home, and Alex feels her blood rise in temperature.

They watch as Eyeball and Leggy stand by the counter, talking to the man. Alexandrite knows him, a guy named Mr. Smiley. He’s a reliable source of demographic information, and she is his favourite customer.

But they’re just talking, nothing more. Leggy seems to say something more, and Eyeball drops a dollar on the counter and reaches for a packet of gum. Then they nod curtly and leave the store, getting into the car parked on the curb, and driving away. 

Alexandrite waits until they are completely out of sight before crossing the road towards the mini mart, scarcely waiting for Garnet and Pearl to follow. She pushes the clear glass door open with a security beep, alerting her presence.

The mini mart is like any other. White-blue light that gives you a waxy, ill complexion and rows of tinned goods, bread and cereals, candy and alcohol. 

Mr. Smiley is a broad, black man with a choice of colourful shirts and strained, grinning expression. Still, when Alexandrite walks in he seems pleased to see her, reaching out his hand to shake hers in greeting. 

‘Miss. A, always a pleasure.’

‘Likewise, Smiley.’

Mr. Smiley slides a glance when the door drones again, Garnet and Pearl walking in to join Alexandrite at the counter. 

‘What can I do for you?’

‘The women who just came in,’ Alexandrite cuts to the chase, ‘what did they want?’

Mr. Smiley gently taps the counter with his palm, shaking his head.

‘They were looking for two girls, apparently. Told me they were detectives, showed me badges and all that. Bah! It’s all baloney, I know a couple of bounty hunters when I see them.’

‘Those women were not bounty hunters,’ Garnet cuts in, stepping up to the counter, ‘they’re Malachite’s dummies. They’re looking for our friends.’

‘Well,’ Pearl scoffs quietly, ‘ _friend.’_

Garnet side-eyes Pearl over her shades, warningly. Pearl rolls her own, and appears very interested in a packet of fabric softener 50% off. Alexandrite simply sighs. 

‘Smiley, has anything reached your ears?’

Mr. Smiley whistles low.

‘Darn, well I wish I could help you ladies, but those two kept it pretty hush. They asked about two girls, one blonde, the other blue, nothing more. But whatever’s going on, I’d say your friends are in a whole heap of trouble. However…’

Alexandrite’s gaze hardens.

‘What?’ 

Mr. Smiley seems to think about his words carefully, especially when talking to Alexandrite. He studies Garnet and Pearl once more, before deciding the information he has, can be shared.

‘A lil birdy has been flying around, saying there was a weird disturbance over at the Zircon’s law-firm.’

His words grip Pearl’s attention from the fabric softener like a vice. Alexandrite presses harder.

‘What sort of disturbance?’

‘I’m sure you would have heard about it tomorrow morning,’ Mr. Smiley says with a stroke to his chin, ‘but somebody saw the entire building go up in red lights, like something from a Bond movie. Only for twenty minutes though, then it all went dark. But they did see a blue haired gal get into a white van, absolutely saturated in blood- like she damn killed somebody.’

Alexandrite is practically white in the knuckles, fists tight.

‘Why wasn’t I alerted about this sooner? This area is my community, my people. Does that mean nothing to you?’

Mr. Smiley suddenly gets defensive as Alexandrite’s cool rage, and he holds his hands up like a white flag of surrender.

‘Hey, now! That’s not the end of my story!’

Garnet folds her arms, glaring through her shades.

‘Finish it, quickly.’                                                                                                                                                                        

Mr. Smiley swallows and adjusts his shirt collar, beads of glistening sweat breaking out on his bald head.

‘Alright, well, see- I personally believe some poor fools are playing that illegal, devil game again.’

‘Neon Devils…really. What makes you say that?’

‘Flash, black car pulled up moments after the van left,’ he shrugs, ‘like a funeral Hurst. Some guys in suits chased our onlooker away with a big ole gun. Seemed real sketchy, if you ask me. Not the first folk to try it out, won’t be the last.’

He watches Alexandrite think, perplexed. 

‘You know,’ he says slowly, ‘the girl in the van suspiciously matched the description of the youngest of the Lazuli’s, and of those Red Numbers. Think she’s the reason Malachite’s prowling about?’

Alexandrite nods to the tobacco stand behind Mr. Smiley.

‘Ten-pack of menthol, if you could. Lighter too.’

She could quit smoking again tomorrow. Tonight, she has some aged gears to oil.

‘Those things will kill you, eh?’

‘Worse things have tried.’  

Alexandrite slides a twenty-dollar bill across the counter, taking the packed and lighter. She glances behind her; Pearl seems agitated, and she could spot the cracks in Garnet’s composure any day. They need to get going.

‘Oh, Miss. A, before you go-‘

Pearl sighs loudly, and Alexandrite reluctantly turns away from where she’s about to follow her younger friends out. She stuffs her purchases into the plum tweed of her jacket pocket.

‘Yes, Smiley?’

Mr. Smiley jiggles a set of keys in his left hand, a knowing look in his brown eyes, bloodshot from stress.

‘I’ve had some new produce come in, just recently. I had a client ready to collect this morning…but, he became indisposed. Spare an hour, take a look. You may find something you like.’  

***

 The glass Peridot drops goes unnoticed, the floor a vodka stained mess anyways. She can barely believe her ill fortune of all the places the Garnet and Pearl could have gone. Leading them is the infamous Alexandrite, a woman Peridot has heard many stories of, but never actually met.

Peridot’s worried she’s about to.

She feels hands on her wrist, Lapis tugging her low under the bar. Skinny notices this, and realises with dread her mentor and Zoo’s founder, is here for the girls. She observes the sizable crowd gathering around the three of the Crystal Gems, greeting them like royalty. They won’t be noticed for another few moments while Alexandrite is distracted, and she shoves the large bag into Jasper’s hands.

‘Get these two out of here,’ Skinny hisses, ‘ _now_.’

Jasper looks to where Lapis and Peridot have crouched with agonized expressions, and then into Skinny’s stone-cold eyes. She curses and reluctantly takes the heavy duffle from her girlfriend’s hands.

‘Be fucking careful, woman,’ she demands, kissing her cheek briefly before dragging Peridot and Lapis through the bar as discreetly as she can, out towards the back where the fire exit is located.

Skinny doesn’t watch them go, careful not to attract any sort of attention. She decides to make herself scarce, but she jumps terribly along with the rest of the bar, when the shot of a gun goes off and Alexandrite is aiming an AK-47 at the roof, debris narrowly missing her head. She doesn’t even flinch, eyes scanning the bar with a hawk-like glare.

She lowers the gun.

Behind Skinny, somebody whines quietly.

_‘I just patched the last of them holes!’_

‘Everyone,’ Alexandrite says with an even tone, the hush of the crowd saving her from shouting, ‘thank you for your attention. I wish I were here on better circumstances…however, the Gem’s and I are here on a matter of urgency.’

Skinny swallows, Alexandrite pausing briefly.

‘One of our youngest, Amethyst, has fallen into the clutches of Malachite. We have a code red.’

The crowd goes into an uproar, and Carnelian grabs Skinny’s arm quickly.

‘Shit, babe- you need to get of here!’

But people are already shooting them suspicious glances, and Skinny’s starting to sweat under the pressure of keeping her cool. Alexandrite shoots another bullet through the roof, and the crowd falls silent once more.

‘It has come to my knowledge that Malachite’s very own, Lapis Lazuli, is in partnership with Amethyst’s girlfriend. Does anybody know a Peridot Zircon?’

More eyes have landed on Skinny, and it isn’t long until a murmur breaks out. The trail of gazes is a path Pearl quickly follows, own eyes bright and beady. Skinny swallows again, standing her ground. Carnelian attempts to tug her away, but it’s too late- somebody has called out from the crowd, pointing in accusation.

_‘Skinny brought in Jasper, and two other chicks tonight! That Jasper is a Lazuli!’_

The murmurs get louder, and now Alexandrite’s attention has locked on Skinny like a target, moving smoothly towards her like water. Skinny can feel her heart in her mouth as Alexandrite and her Gems approach. She flexes her long fingers, pistol inside the hidden pocket of her leather jacket, but she’s determined to leave this bar without crossfire if she can help it. 

‘Skinny, how are you tonight?’

Alexandrite speaks to her like she’s brought up the weather, but Skinny doesn’t underestimate the fury her elder is capable of unleashing.

‘I’m well, Alex,’ Skinny remains polite, ‘it’s good to see you again, it’s been a while.’

Alexandrite matches Skinny’s height, but she’s still far more intimidating. Tilting her head a little, she weighs Skinny up with steely eyes.

‘Skinny, correct me if I’m wrong, but did I just hear that you’re in relations with Jasper Lazuli?’

‘Jasper is my girlfriend, she’s a valuable friend here.’

‘Hm, I see. Where is Jasper, dear?’

‘She went to the bathroom.’

Alexandrite turns to Garnet.

‘Garnet, please search the premises. Bring Jasper back here.’

Garnet obeys the command, brushing past Skinny breezily.

 Alexandrite starts to walk a slow circle around Skinny, isolating her from the protection of the crowd. Skinny isn’t sure who is friend or foe in that sea of faces. Regardless, she stands to her full height and poker-faced. Showing no trace of fear. Alexandrite isn’t a bloodthirsty dictator, but she’s a skilled crusader and could turn this bar against her at any given second.

‘Now, Skinny. I wasn’t expecting you of all people to welcome the enemy- let alone sleep with it. But…love is a gift. I’m very willing to give you my blessing, as I am quite aware Jasper was disowned from her own family, correct?’

Skinny doesn’t move a muscle.

‘It is. She deserves to be loved.’

She can hear Alexandrite quietly sigh, and it doesn’t surprise her. Skinny’s famous for her bleeding heart. 

‘In return, you will tell me who else you brought into this bar tonight. Were they members?’

‘No.’

‘Friends?’

‘Family.’

Alexandrite raises her eyebrows and stops in front Skinny, eye to eye.

‘Family? All your family is _here_. Who could be missing?’

 _‘I’ll tell ya who’s missing,’_ somebody else crows, _‘fucking Sugilite, that’s who!’_

 Pearl’s head snaps in fury towards the voice.

‘Irrelevant to the situation! Shut your mouth!’

_‘Aw don’t be touchy, Pearl! Sugilite still misses that ass of yours!’_

Waves of laughter echo the bar, and Pearl flushes bright red, ready to find the owner of the voices and knock them out. Alexandrite slaps a hand on her flat chest, stopping her.

‘Pearl, enough. We didn’t come here to start civil war.’

Alexandrite looks away from a grumbling Pearl and back to Skinny. She’s a prime suspect, and she’s starting to feel very nervous the very woman who taught her how to hold a gun is going to turn one on her.

‘I suggest you give me names, dear. You do realise our Amethyst is in grave danger, as well as a boy named Steven. Their well-being rests on your shoulders.’

Skinny knows Alexandrite is trying to make her sweat, and while she refuses to let herself be bullied, she can’t allow Carnelian’s poor cousin and some boy fall victim to Malachite’s wrath. She’s at a crossroads.

‘What do you want with them?’

‘It depends on if they’re the right people. Did you, or did you not bring in Peridot Zircon and Lapis Lazuli tonight?’

Skinny tries to breathe evenly.

‘Yes, I did.’

 She winces when she hears somebody hiss ‘ _traitorous bitch’_ from the back.

‘-But, Lapis and Peridot have nothing to do with Amethyst’s disappearance! Or that boy, Steven. They have their own engagements to be concerned with.’

Something in Alexandrite’s expression changes, but it’s not surprise.

‘Yes, I’m very aware of this little joy-ride those girls are on. Let me guess, did you tend to their wounds and offer them protection?’

‘They were in dire need of my help,’ she bites back, ‘I would never have turned them away.’ 

‘I don’t doubt that. However, while I sympathise, their game is not my problem. I need them brought to me- I’m sure Peridot will be distraught when she hears of Amethyst.’ 

‘And Lapis,’ Skinny challenges back, ‘you’re planning to use her as a chess piece?’

People around her gasp, shocked she’s talking back to Alexandrite like she is, but Skinny doesn’t give a shit. She has a future sister-in-law to defend. Alexandrite does not seem angered by the lip, rather she’s amused.

‘Malachite has one of ours, naturally we need something to bargain with.’

Skinny’s hand twitches, and she shakes her head, repulsed.

‘Malachite isn’t you, Alex. She doesn’t care about Lapis, or Jasper! She’s a monster!’

Alexandrite takes a step closer, and Skinny feels the walls closing in.

‘We have to try,’ Alexandrite tries to reason, ‘she’s the only remaining heir to Malachite’s cult of an empire. You really think Malachite doesn’t care about her legacy?’

‘I know she doesn’t care about family. Lapis doesn’t deserve this.’

Alexandrite chuckles humourlessly.

‘You refer to her like an innocent. Lapis has killed, robbed and ruined lives just like her sister. Skinny, do the right thing. Hand her over.’

Skinny glances down to where Carnelian looks pale with terror, and her heart tugs.

‘I can’t, even if I wanted to. They’re gone.’

The bar goes cold suddenly, and Alexandrite is stiff. Pearl’s hand tightens on the metal bat she holds.

‘What do you mean, gone?’ 

Skinny’s heart is about to burst from her chest, and she can feel sweat building up on her back.

‘I mean like they escaped through the fire exit and are probably halfway across the city by now,’ Skinny dares let her lips twitch into a smirk- she hasn’t got anything left to lose, she was already fucked five minutes ago. 

‘You won’t find your chess piece.’

Alexandrite doesn’t even blink.

‘Maybe not. But you need to learn your place.’

And, there it is.

Skinny barely has time to blink before she’s being lunged at by Pearl, the bat swinging low for her hips, and Skinny jumps it like a reverse limbo. Pearl is an excellent fighter, having sparred with her in their younger years.

But Skinny is going to kick her ass.

Skinny grabs the bat with when it swings for her again, and tugs it out of Pearl’s grasp with the vantage point of Pearl’s surprise. She wastes no time in batting it low for her ankles, tripping the younger woman, and Pearl crashes to the ground with an ‘ _Oof!_ ’

Skinny hears someone move from behind, and there is howling when she cracks them in the face with the bat, diving away from grabbing hands.

Carnelian and some of Skinny’s friends try to come to her aid, standing in front of her like defending knights, fighting off anyone who tries to attack.

‘Alex, please,’ Carnelian screams, ‘we don’t fight our own!’

But Alexandrite doesn’t seem to care, ready to engage herself in combat, gun slung over her shoulder she cracks her knuckles.

Carnelian and the small group of her loyalties have bought Skinny some time, and she punches someone out cold and vaults onto the bar, making a run for the staircase on her vantage point. By now the entire Zoo matches its definition, the whole venue gridlocked in civil war as sister fights sister. Glasses smash, bones crack and people are yelling.

Skinny hears a thud behind her, Alexandrite having fought her way through and now she’s stood on the bar, racing after Skinny.

Skinny screeches when she’s dragged back by her hair, so close to escape, and her world turns upside down when Alexandrite throws her from the sticky surface and onto the grimy floor. People part in the shock of it, but then there is jeering, a circle crowding.

‘Fight! Fight! Fight!’

Alexandrite roars.

‘ENOUGH!’

Skinny groans from the impact, but she’s mercifully uninjured. She pushes herself up on her hands and tries to pull herself to her feet, but then her blood runs cold when the long head of a rifle is lined up with her skull. She can hear Carnelian yelling, fighting against Geena who is holding her back.

‘NO! DON’T HURT HER! LET ME FUCKING GO!’

Alexandrite doesn’t look up.

‘Somebody remove Carnelian from the vicinity,’ she commands with a growl, and there is a struggle and protesting as Carnelian and some of her friends are dragged forcibly from the building. Skinny’s blunt nails dig into the hard wood floor, and she tries to catch her breath.

She glares up at Alexandrite, past the gun.

‘You going to kill me? Do it!’ Skinny hisses through her teeth, ‘you’ve never thought anything of me, anyway!’

Alexandrite blows a stray lock of hair out of her eyes, the heavy weapon steady in her iron grip.

‘You doubt your own worth, dear. You’re special to us, to me. _I_ love you, I love you like _my_ daughter.’

Somebody scoffs.

_‘Too bad she lost all of hers, fucking Judus.’_

 Skinny feels white hot humiliation, tears pricking in the corners of her eyes as Alexandrite stares down at her, almost in sorrow. Then the gun is lowered, much to everyone’s surprise, and a hand is extended to Skinny.

‘Stand up, child.’

Skinny is lightheaded, taking a moment to stare at Alexandrite’s calloused palm before she’s pulled to her feet and into a firm hug. Wetness escapes her eyes, and she can feel herself shaking. She forces herself to get a grip, banishing tears before they fall harder.

‘Oh god, Mom…’

‘I’m sorry, dear. But that was necessary.’

Alexandrite straightens up, and places her hands-on Skinny’s shoulders. She addresses the bar.

‘Whoever brought up Skinny’s miscarriages and willingly slid her on a platter of betrayal, I’d get out now, before I shoot you down. I don’t have time for brittle loyalty.’

There is a of wind of change, people arguing amongst themselves before finally three women push through the crowd and out of the front exit, booed all the way out. Skinny doesn’t watch them go, too thunderstruck by Alexandrite’s sudden change of heart.

She stares with a blurred vision into Alexandrite’s aged face, still in her gentle grip. Alexandrite looks back, offers her a wink, and then her face moulds into firm tightness once more.

‘Alright,’ she commands, scouring the Zoo, ‘as of this moment everybody in this bar is part of the search and rescue. I want everyone looking on every avenue, of every street in every district. Not a stone is to be left unturned until we find our missing Gem. We find Amethyst, we find Malachite.’

‘W-what about Lapis and Peridot?’ Skinny asks with a shaking voice.

‘It’s like you said,’ Alexandrite murmurs, ‘they have enough to deal with. But I want them found and followed, just in case. They might be some use to us, still.’

Alexandrite snaps her fingers at the two identical twins in the front of the circle.

‘Rutile A, Rutile J. Get on the lookout for Lapis and Peridot. Find them, make sure they don’t get themselves killed.’

‘Right boss!’

‘You got it, Alex!’

The twins are racing away, past Garnet who has just returned, Jasper in tow. They look like they’ve beaten the absolute shit out of each-other, but Skinny doesn’t care, throwing herself into Jasper’s arms the second she sees her.

 _‘_ Oh my god, Jasp. Are you okay? _’_

Jasper rubs circles into Skinny’s back, watching Alexandrite command teams of women left and right, the Zoo becoming empty as people rush to their posts and head off in search parties.

‘I’m fine, I’m fine. Are you?’

Skinny sniffs hard, and Jasper can only imagine the shit that’s just gone down.

‘Nevermind me, where are the girls?’

‘They’re on their way to the next checkpoint, it’s the Art Gallery and Museum up on Southbank.’

‘We need to go after them, before they get themselves killed. A direct invitation can’t mean anything good.’

They’re about to make a clean exit out of the commotion, when Carnelian rushes back in, looking distraught until she catches sight of Skinny, and hurtles into her a like a cannonball.

‘Oh my fuck, Skinny you’re okay! I thought old Mom was going to blast your fucking head off!’

Skinny chuckle’s softly, hands still slightly shaking when she runs them through her best friend’s hair.

‘Alexandrite is crafty, I’ll give you that. But I will admit…I was a little scared for a second. Thanks for having my back.’

‘You’re my sister from another mister, and I know you were up shits creek with Amethyst.’

At the mention of Amethyst’s name, Skinny smiles sadly and cups Carnelian’s face.

‘We’ll find your cousin,’ she promises, ‘it’s going to be okay.’

Carnelian seems to perk up at Skinny’s enthusiasm, and her smile of hope is infectious. She dips away from Skinny’s grasp, snapping into action.

‘We should follow on with the Gems, coming?’

Jasper steps in and squeezes Skinny’s shoulder.

‘Honey, the girls.’

Skinny ponders for a second, her hand coming up to rest over Jasper’s.

‘Carn, Jasper and I are going to find her sister, we’ll stand a better chance of getting to Malachite that way. But you go with Mom and the Gem’s, I’ll keep you updated.’

Carnelian agrees without hesitation, informing Skinny she’ll stock up from the inventory, and that she will meet them outside. She turns away, and yells for Geena.

‘Baby, you sure you’re okay?’

Skinny is brought back down to earth by Jasper’s soothing tone, her girlfriend rubbing her upper arms. She throws Jasper a watery smile, trying not to hold onto the cruel insult spat her not but minutes ago.  

‘Yeah, of course.’

She allows herself to be kissed, Jasper’s lips laced in reassurance. Skinny feels a hand coming up to rest on her midsection, where the scar lies under her clothes. Her breath hitches, and when the kiss breaks Jasper presses their foreheads together.

‘I love you.’

Skinny giggles weakly.

‘Let’s go and save some lives, already.’

 


	19. Learn to Let Me Go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Six or so months down the line, and I return. I can only apologize on this one, and hopefully I can balance my chapter flow. 
> 
> Thank you all for waiting on this.
> 
> Love, Betty.

[PRESS PLAY](https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=learn+to+let+go+kesha&qpvt=learn+to+let+go+kesha&view=detail&mid=94DB674A7ABFD57C2C0094DB674A7ABFD57C2C00&&FORM=VRDGAR)

 

Jasper already regrets leaving Skinny behind when she’s pushes Lapis and Peridot to safety, out in the reeking back ally. Her little sister is cursing, and Peridot is trying to calm her down.

‘Lapis, let’s just go!’

‘Peridot are you for real?!’ Lapis counts her reasons by the finger, ‘We don’t know where Court is, your ex just got kidnapped by my sister, and the fucking Crystal Gems are on a national family retreat for our asses!’

Jasper rolls her eyes and reaches out to pinch Lapis’s ear.

‘OW! Fuck!’

‘You need to calm down, kiddo,’ says Jasper, ‘listen to your girlfriend.’

Lapis grumbles.

‘We’re not girlfriends.’

Peridot sulks, and Jasper lets out a rumbling sigh. She pinches harder, and Lapis squirms.

‘Listen, brat. I have just left the love of my life in a den of lions, and she’s going to stand them off to defend you. So, get on your bike, go to where you need to go, and we will follow you on. Do you understand?’  

Lapis hisses through her teeth, trying not to move as much under Jasper’s vice like grip, back bent over under her elder sister’s submission.

‘How do you expect us to get there, oh wise one? We haven’t solved the fucking riddle!’

Jasper looks likes she’s about to do a lot more than pinching, but then the roof of the bar is blasted by a gun shot, and the trio jumps terribly. 

Jasper let’s Lapis go from under her thumb and finger, Lapis straightening up and rubbing at the reddened flesh to soothe her ear. She takes this moment to stalk away five paces in a huff, turning her back on Peridot and Jasper, muttering to herself.

Peridot is growing tired of standing around in this dank alley, the bar having grown suspiciously quiet after the gun shot. Time and patience is thinning out, and without a word strides up to Lapis and digs her fingers into her jacket pocket, fishing out the phone.

‘What the hell!’

Peridot flips her off and accesses the device quickly, having memorized the passkey an hour before when Lapis opened her text.  

The riddle flashes upon the screen, reflecting on the cracked rims of her glasses.  Lapis appears even more frustrated, ear still throbbing and having just been assaulted, but as she watches Peridot’s expression changing while she reads the message, Lapis figures something has clicked inside that egg head of hers.  

She is correct when Peridot hisses out a ‘of course,’ and holds up the mobile triumphantly.

‘Images of a thousand words, stories of old,’ Peridot recites, ‘enriched to the full, awe of a child. It’s the art gallery! Duh!’  

Lapis takes back the phone and peers at the message inquisitively, even though it’s already been solved. Her brows furrow and she makes a face.

‘The art gallery? Fuck, they couldn’t have picked a more pretentious place.’

‘And open,’ Jasper comments, ‘a community space, easy access,’ she shakes her head, scoffing, ‘this is a set up if I ever smelt one.’

Lapis pockets the device and pops her tongue in her cheek. The heavy bag Jasper carries on her shoulder is gestured to, and reluctantly Jasper hands it over. Lapis hitches the strap over her shoulders, and she’s ready to leave without any more discussion.

‘Set up or not, we should get going. Don’t worry, I’ve sort of got a plan.’ 

Peridot glares, glasses flashing under the streetlight.

‘Sort of?!’

Lapis ignores the biting protest and nods at Jasper, who pulls the skinny girl into her arms.

‘Don’t do anything stupid, but if you do, be smart enough to fix it.’

Lapis looks up from where her head rests on Jasper’s chest, and she reaches up to place her index finger over the faint scar that traces Jasper’s nose. Jasper grunts a quiet laugh and taps her own fingers, a pattern into Lapis’ back.

She looks like she’s about to say something more, but then the back-door bursts open and the sisters spring apart. Gloomy purple light bleeds out from the entrance, and the stoic figure that is Garnet stands before them.

Lapis reacts immediately with hostility when she notices the way Garnet fixes on Peridot, her shades lowered and tucked into her shirt. Peridot knows this is going to end badly, and she tries to take a step backward.

‘Peridot, stay where you are,’ Garnet commands coolly, ‘I don’t want to have to force you back inside. Please, come here.’

Lapis feels white hot rage at the superficial authority Garnet seems to possess, and she cracks her knuckles loudly.

‘You touch her, and you’re dead,’ she spits, but Garnet seems unfazed, not even threatened. Her wrists turn outwards, and there is a dangerous flash of metal. A set of knuckledusters are clenched in her fists, encrusted with two sparkling gems. One blue, the other red. They look expensive- and extremely unpleasant should they meet soft flesh.   

‘Lapis, stand down. You’re dealing with the Crystal Gems now. Peridot is under our protection, and you have no business with her.’ 

This enrages Lapis further, but before she can advance a brazen attack, her jacket is tugged on, and Peridot hisses over her shoulder.

‘Lapis, don’t! She’ll kill you without even trying!’

Jasper chuckles lowly at this warning, and she sizes Garnet up and down, not once taking her eyes from her opponent as she speaks to the girls.

‘You two, get going. I’ll take care of Million Dollar Baby over here.’ 

‘Peridot, don’t even think about it!’

But Lapis and Peridot have already done a runner, and when Garnet tries to dart after them she makes a grunt of surprise when her bicep is snatched, and she is flung in the direction of the dumpsters, a wet landing.  Her glasses have flown from its perch, smashing with a dull crack.

Feeling grateful she wore stain-proof leather, Garnet rises from the trash heap easily and rolls back her shoulders with a pop.

There is a tense few moments before the storm. Garnet knows Peridot and Lapis are still is accessible distance, but getting past Jasper isn’t going to be easy. This won’t be their first confrontation, and depending on what’s happening backing the bar, Garnet doubts it will be the last.  

‘Stand aside, Jasper,’ Garnet tries one last time, ‘I don’t want to fight you like this.’

Jasper smirks.

‘Like what? Like a pair of teenagers in a scrap? Cut the crap, Garnet. We can be civilized adults and go back into the bar. Or I could beat your ass till you get for mercy. Take your pick.’

‘Please, after you.’

Garnet’s dry sarcasm picks at Jasper’s composure, and she knows the second she steps to the left, Garnet will dart to the right, gut her with those flashy knuckle dusters of hers, and catch up to Lapis before Jasper even has time to blink.

From where the door remains open, the sounds of shouting and the smashing of a brawl commences, and Jasper's jaw clenches.

‘I’ve beaten you before, I’ll do it again,’ Garnet says belligerently, trying to get a rise out of Jasper. But it won’t work, not this time.

‘You beat down a homophobic bully,’ Jasper counteracts, ‘with every day that passes, the less predictable your opponent becomes. Didn’t Alexandrite teach you better?’

Garnet always trusts her shades to always protect her emotions, to keep her foe guessing, always on their toes. But she’s on show now, the flickering of her eyes giving away her uncertainty, miscoloured like the precious stones on her weapons. Jasper looks like someone stripped her down and remade her, a stranger with new tricks up her sleeves and morals to match.

But Jasper was wrong. Alex didn’t just teach her better, she taught her annihilation.

Garnet wastes no more time on words, their battle commencing the second she pulls her fist back. Jasper narrowly dodges the scrape of metal fists, taking the opportunity to jab into Garnet’s side, surely to leave a bruise on her ribs.

Garnet recovers quickly, and this time she does not miss when she lands a sickening punch to Jasper’s jaw. The pained shock blinds Jasper with white hot visions, and spitting out a mouthful of blood she forces herself to think focus.

Garnet lunches to hit her again, but this time Jasper sees the flashing of blue sapphire and counteracts the attack by snatching up Garnet’s wrist, and with all her strength throws her back up against the graffitied brick wall of the bar. Garnet feels like all the air in her lungs escapes the second her back hits the wall, swearing she hears something crack when she falls to the ground.

She takes a second to catch stolen breath, and while she’s down Jasper approaches, evidently to finish the job. Lifting her head just in time to see Jasper raise a leg to gut her, she swipes her own into Jasper’s right shin, causing her to lose balance and collapse to the dirty ground alongside Garnet.

Garnet wastes no time and is upon Jasper in a millisecond, drawing back to lay another agonising hit to split Jasper’s lip and hard enough to break teeth.

But Jasper’s pearly white’s stay intact, stained in maroon. By now she’s had enough, and finding a grip of Garnet’s belt she throws her off, Garnet rolling a few times on the concrete ground until she comes to a stop with a low-pitched groan. She’s been winded, coughing raggedly as she attempts to sit up and throw herself back into the fight. But when she opens her eyes, it seems she has nothing to prepare herself for.

Instead of laying into her, Jasper takes heavy seat three feet away, her forearms resting on her thighs as she leans in on herself. Garnet is surprised she would cease fire so soon, but over the sound of her own breathing she notices something strange. The bar is hushed in silence, only the blare of sirens and horns on the streets can be heard. 

‘I can’t believe I just kicked your ass in a crappy bar ally,’ Jasper huffs with her head tipped back, long peroxide locks falling over her shoulders, ‘We’re getting too old for this shit.’

‘Correction, I beat _your_ ass,’ Garnet wipes fresh blood from the cut on her cheek, ‘and don’t let Alexandrite catch you being ageist, or you’re in for it.’

She wipes her hand on her pants and watches Jasper laugh softly, the amused sound morphing into a groan as she rises to her feet, even extending a hand to help Garnet up.

Garnet eyes the calloused palm and fingers warily but accepts the gesture nonetheless. Jasper doesn’t let go immediately, and Garnet’s eyebrows raise.

‘What?’

‘I want a truce.’

‘I’m fine with tolerating you.’

‘I don’t want your toleration, I want to be civil.’

Garnet drops Jasper’s hand like its hot metal.

‘I don’t have to be civil with you at all, and being with one of my sisters doesn’t change that.’

Jasper’s expression darkens, and she steps closer.

‘I would never hurt Skinny, just like I know Peridot would never hurt Lapis.’

‘Just like she’d never hurt Amethyst? Tell me, how long has have those two known one another? Peridot’s turned into hot mess, and your sister had her bring guns into my club. So, excuse me if I’m a little reserved on extending to new family.’

If Jasper was younger, and her head was thicker she would have slammed it straight into Garnet’s to start world war three. But this isn’t the time, and she’s exercised her opinions already. Jasper keeps her temper and raises her hand to Garnet in one last attempt.

‘Then at least let us share alliance, until this is over. After that, you won’t see Lapis again.’

‘With you around, I find that hard to believe. Until Malachite is brought down, we will never see peace in this city. And when Alex finds her, I hope you can decide where your real loyalties lie.’

Like earlier, Garnet’s cutting words scratch the glass of Jasper’s smooth exterior, but she refuses to crack. They have two girls to find and the devil to kill. She won’t waste any more energy arguing, ending the conversation by brushing past Garnet to head back to the bar, their shoulders connecting in a rough promise of round two.

Cool air of the paddled fans hit them when they walk back into the bar, which is emptying rapidly. Garnet makes sure to put space between them by herding away a group that flocks to her, ready to inherit a party leader, leaving Japer to reunite with Skinny who looks almost traumatised.

When Jasper holds Skinny in her arms, she sees the unshed tears in her round eyes and the way her shoulders shake. When they kiss, she feels her girlfriend melt like ice cream, and just like that she knows something is very wrong.

Skinny pulls away with a weak giggle, and the hustle and bustle around them starts to fade as more people leave the building and they realise how quiet its become. They follow suit, out into the summer night air where people of the Zoo are jumping on their motorbikes and the odd car, zooming away in groups under Alexandrite’s command, sending each party away one at a time. Skinny squeezes Jasper’s hand, not realising the breath she’s been holding.

‘Babe, go get the car. I need to speak to Alex.’

Jasper grumbles, obviously concerned at the look Skinny has in her eyes but takes the keys and heads away to the range rover parked on the sidewalk. Skinny’s clenches her fists and tries to conceal how electric she feels. It’s been such a long time since she’s been in that kind of fight, a stand-off with her foster sisters and guardian no less. But she can’t put off the need to set the record straight, and when Alex sends the last party off, she turns and their eyes lock.

Alex appears to sigh before heading over to where Skinny stands, arms now folded to hide her red knuckles.

‘That was quite the show back there,’ Alex mused, ‘I’m sorry. I pushed it too far, I should never have humiliated you like that.’

‘No, I pushed it too far by giving myself to a Lazuli,’ Skinny replied quietly, ‘and I know I’ve done things to hurt you. But I love Jasper…I just…’ Skinny pauses, visibly uncomfortable, ‘…when you find Malachite, are you really going to kill her?’

‘I am,’ Alex answered without hesitation, ‘and when that time comes you may have to prepare for a broken heart. I would never ask you to choose family over Jasper, but when I put that bullet in Malachite’s brain, she may not love you anymore. Blood is thicker than water.’

Skinny nods solemnly, a lump in her throat at the thought of her future.

‘I know, and I think deep down Jasper knows this is the end of Mal…but promise me you’ll spare Lapis? She’s just a kid. And if Jasper stays, I want Lapis to stay too. In my home, in my family.’

Alexandrite’s shoulder’s sag a little, weighed down by these words. She draws closer and places her hands-on Skinny’s forearms, gripping tight.

‘I know you’ve lost so much in your life, and you may think you can have it all, but Lapis is not a child, and you are delusional if you think she can be trusted. I know nothing, or anyone could replace your baby, but the idea of housing people who’ve killed our friends and associates is just plain lunacy! I won’t have it, and if I find out you take that girl into your home, I’ll disown you.’

Skinny recoiled, feeling like she’d been punched in the face. Alexandrite held on fast, and her long fingers dug in harder, eye’s burning with promise.

‘Do you understand what I’m saying, Skanihai?’

Skinny dips her head, hiding fresh tears glimmering in the corners of her eyes.

‘Don’t call me that,’ she whispered, ‘and you’ve never even met Lapis. You just want to see the world in black and white.’

‘And you nearly lost your life because of your naivety.’

‘I was young!’ Skinny snapped back, and she shrugs Alexandrite off her roughly, glowering like she’s been smeared in something foul, ‘and fuck you for reminding me of my mistakes! At least if I had my baby I wouldn’t have turned her into a fucking child soldier like you did!’

‘Skanighia-‘

‘Just fucking leave it,’ Skinny brushes past Alex with a choked tone, ‘I’m going with Jasper, and we’ll find the girls and after that I’m taking _my_ family home and we’ll deal with this mess without you or your pathetic little army.’

Alexandrite doesn’t try to stop her protégé, storming back to her vehicle with sparks practically flying her heels from each enraged step she takes. Alex feels the rest of her daughters at her back, having spectated the incident that has left Alex almost speechless.

‘Alex?’

Pearl is hesitant when she drops her bag of artillery, reaching up to touch Alexandrite’s shoulder, and half expects to be thrown off; except calloused fingers rise to curl over her own, and Alex glances over her shoulder to smile tiredly at Pearl.   

‘Don’t worry. She’ll be back, I know she will.’

Pearl returns the smile and releases from Alex’s hand, watching Skinny and Jasper driving away together into the distance.

‘I hope so. But she’s always been estranged from us, maybe we’re better off.’

‘Ah, Pearl, I can always count of you to be reassuring,’ Alex scoffs, and Pearl’s cheeks go pink in her guilt. She backs her thin body away and beside Garnet, who takes note of Alex’s calm behaviour and sarcastic words. Alexandrite quirks her lip at Garnet’s studious eyes.

‘Yes, Garnet?’

‘You have a plan, or you wouldn’t be so relaxed.’

‘I do,’ Alex muses while she plucks a hair tie from her jacket pocketed, sweeping her white locks into a ponytail.

‘In the years each of you left my care, I made sure that every phone you ever owned was chipped with undetectable tacking devices; just in case we were ever faced with an emergency like this one.’

Pearl almost makes a squawking like noise, horrified.

‘Oh dear God- Mother _, seriously?_  So _that’s_ why when I was seventeen you-‘

‘ _Yes,_ Pearl,’ Alex interrupts swiftly to ignore the second-hand embarrassment of the memory, ‘and it was for your own good- but the point is we can find Amethyst quickly, and I can take Malachite out cleanly without mess. And then after that, we tackle Skinny’s melodramatics.’  

‘As always, Alex, I’m impressed. But why make all the fuss? Please tell me you’re not dating Sardonyx again?’

At the mention of her eccentric ex-girlfriend, Alexandrite cocks one eyebrow, mouth falling into an almost frown.

‘Of course not, Sardonyx migrated to Manhattan two months ago, but that’s beside the point. While you two were discussing tactics amongst yourselves, I made sure that every group went to Malachite’s drug houses to take out her Rubies and have the produce delivered to the police. I want every single trace of Malachite gone from this city, and if she starts to lose her control she’ll be more vulnerable.’

The smoothness of Alexandrite’s words fell from her tongue like she’s practiced this moment for years, and the way Garnet and Pearl catch each other’s eye confirms the adjoining suspicion Alex probably has. Malachite and Alexandrite have always shared a deep-rooted hatred for the other, since they were teenagers. And now Malachite has lit the match, Alex is all too happy to fan the flame before extinguishing it with ice cold intention.

‘But, Alex, won’t Malachite start to suspect something if she hears reports of her ties going in flames? That would give her reason to kill Amethyst and Steven in retaliation.’

‘Not to worry, Pearl. I made sure for each group to hold off until I give a text signal. I won’t risk Amethyst’s life, or that of Steven.’

It seems like Alexandrite has planned everything to detail, and she ends the discussion by gesturing with keys on her fingers to a single car left for them, parked on the curb. It is a black mini car, small and without flare for attention.

‘Come on, get in.’

‘What happened to laying low?’

‘Did you not just hear what I said? In. Now.’

No matter how old Garnet and Pearl get, or all the opponents they’ve ever faced off, Alexandrite will always be their mother, mentor, and reason they could leave the earth at any given time. Both women jump to her command, slamming the doors behind them. Alex puts keys to the ignition and they too are on their way, one hand fishing out her phone and soon enough her modified app alerts her of Amethyst’s location.

Lips pursed, she presses down harder on the gas.


	20. A Bag of Useless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Four months, or has it been three? Sorry guys, depression and procrastination made a baby and it's called Fuck Me Over. Anyway, regular updates from here on out, and please give some of the more recent chapters a re-read for a refresher. 
> 
> Love, Betty. 
> 
> WARNING: This chapter contains descriptions of gore and violence.

[PLAY ME](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UclCCFNG9q4) 

 

Peridot is glad for the roaring of the motorbike downs out the thoughts racing in her head, hyper focused on her grip on Lapis’s waist and the way she smells of second hand smoke and soap, pointed nose buried in the fabric of her oversized shirt. The bag of ammunition is heavy on her back, and when they took off away from ZOO, Peridot experienced a heart-stopping moment of nearly being thrown from her seat from the sheer weight of it.  She presses her chest against Lapis’s spine and tightens her grip.

The ride is smooth, but Lapis’s hands are shaking and the torment of the unknown seizes up in her chest, heart rapidly beating like a rodent, and she wonders if Peridot can feel it, hopefully mistaking it for the vibration of the engine. She can’t bear to appear weak now.

They arrive at their destination just before three am, Lapis’s reckless speeding shaving seconds from their journey. It’s so deathly quiet, yellow spotlights illuminate the entrance eerily, and it appears the building is closed for the night with the huge front doors locked up. Lapis sucks her teeth as she removes her helmet and dismounts from the bike, taking in her surroundings. It certainly doesn’t look like much of a party, and she looks for a signal, a movement. _Something._

‘I wonder if anyone’s in there,’ Peridot whispers, still on the bike, her own helmet resting in her lap. Lapis notices she’s visibly uncomfortable by the weight on her back, and relives her of it, slinging the bag on her more capable shoulders.

‘Oh, they’re here,’ Lapis scoffs, ‘probably watching us right now. Sick fucks.’  

‘They can probably hear us too,’ Peridot huffs, rolling her stiff shoulders until they pop. Her nerves are already frayed, and with good reason. Tonight, it feels like days have gone by, and in a couple of hours they’ll either be dead or alive. At this point, she cares little about the money, or the people they’ve dragged into this. She doesn’t even care that every last word or tear having escaped her has probably been recorded- her dignity stripped away for the pleasure of others. Peridot swallows thick, a wave of nausea overcoming her and she forces herself not to vomit.

Lapis however, seems unfazed. She’s still scanning the area, cool and aloof. Peridot, despite her better judgement, guesses Lapis has been in worse situations.

‘Hey.’

Peridot realises she’s been staring, and Lapis is looking down at her with soft eyes that could strip Peridot down to her bones. She re-joins Peridot on the bike, swinging her leg over the seat so that they are face-to-face, and she reaches up to her neck and unclasps the necklace that has miraculously survived throughout the night- blood still slightly staining the chain. She doesn’t say a word when she fastens it on Peridot, the metal cool and rests elegantly against her skin.

‘Lapis, I can’t take this.’  

‘I’m loaning it to you,’ Lapis quips, ‘it’s an investment.’

‘An…investment? In what?’

‘In you,’ Lapis breathes, ‘I only want it back when you’ve fulfilled your debt to me.’ 

Peridot wonders what new game she’s playing

‘And what debt is that?’ 

‘When you travel the world with me,’ Lapis isn’t looking at her now, almost blushing and brushing her fingers along Peridot’s wrist.

‘Promise that when we win, we’ll leave everything and never come back. You and me. I know we barely know each-other…and by now you know I’m fucking crazy, but-‘

‘Okay,’ Peridot agrees almost immediately, catching Lapis from the cliff she felt like she was hanging from, Peridot clinging to her hands, refusing to let go.

 ‘You will?’

‘I will,’ Peridot answers, ‘I will.’

For once it’s like Lapis doesn’t know what to say, only nodding once and trying not to smile too wide. It’s an unwritten contact she’s officiated between them, but Peridot’s already signed her survival away- what more is her life? 

God, she must be fucking crazy as well.

Lapis leans closer, their lips inches apart when they are interrupted by the spotlights that once illuminated the gleaming white building come to rest upon them, a shock that blinds them, and when Peridot’s vision adjusts she sees the doors are open for them, wide and welcoming.

It feels anything but warm.

The girls sit up from each-other, but their hands intertwine.

‘What do we do?’

‘Isn’t it obvious? We go in.’

Peridot looks back to Lapis once more, her blue hair doused in the artificial yellow light. It clashes, and her expression is deadly under the shadow of her bangs. In a split second, she’s back to her hardened state, like she won’t let anything or anyone sway her. Like the lights she radiates courage, even if it’s all a front to fool herself, or the ones trying to intimidate her.   

As Peridot follows Lapis motion of vacating their intimate position on the motorcycle, both of their phones vibrate from the only compartment of their bra cups, a conditional response when they check for the next clue. 

Except it’s not a clue. And once Peridot sees the image sent to her, she really does vomit on the sidewalk. Tears are springing to her eyes and she feels her body convulse into a panic attack.

Lapis just stares, immobile.

It’s an image of X-TEA, their first destination, but from the perspective of the window that faced the backstreets of the shop. Inside she sees her sister, Malachite. Under her thumb is the girl Peridot had stopped dead in front of back at The Temple. Opposite her is the very dead body of Ronaldo, his brains and bloody skin tissue decorating the back of his seat- and she can see the blurry head of Steven, who has fallen to the floor.

The phone falls from her fingers, screen smashing on the concrete like Peridot’s heart is probably breaking.

She breathes shallowly and finally registers the said girl’s mournful screaming, head in her hands and the contents of her stomach splashed on her shoes.

What the fuck has she done.

Lapis reaches out to try and touch Peridot’s shaking shoulder, but it’s like her fingers scald her, and Peridot slaps Lapis away with unexpected force.

‘DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH ME! YOU CAUSED THIS!’

Lapis sags, unsure of what she could possibly do to make this better.

‘Peridot-‘

‘NO! If I’d never signed up for this stupid fucking game! If I’d never broken up with Amethyst!’

Peridot chokes on her words, sobbing some more with her face in her hands.

‘Fuck you Lapis! I wish I’d never met you!’

Lapis knows Peridot is devastated and angry, and she knows she is to blame, but the words hurt more than any beating she’s ever endured, and a dark cloud takes over Lapis’s stone heart.   

_'You've proven to us your make a team worth watching, you're an entertaining pair.’_

She clenches her fists.

_Well played, you devilish cunts._

Lapis reaches for Peridot again, roughly taking the smaller girl by the scruff of the neck, towering over her with the intent to intimidate.

‘Listen here, you little fuck. I’m cutting the crap, you are nothing to me. You hear? You caused that cunt to die just as much as I did. Now you’re going to go through those doors and finish this shit- and if you refuse, if you so much as defy me, I’ll kill you with my bare hands.’

As expected, she renders Peridot speechless, terror and betrayal reflecting in her tearful green eyes. Her face crumples again.

‘I hate you.’

Lapis throws her to the ground, sneering as she does so.

‘Oh yeah? I don’t give a fuck. Now get up, we have money to win.’

Reluctantly Peridot rises to her feet, legs shaking and head light. She can’t get the image of her poor friend’s body out of her mind, a memory that will haunt her forever. Lapis’s precious loan is heavy around her neck, and it feels like she’s the devil’s property. 

For a split second she thinks about running as fast as her legs will carry her, back to Garnet and Pearl, to save Amethyst and Steven, to get as far away as Lapis as possible. 

But then she watches how Lapis smirks at her, like she’s superior. Like she owns Peridot. Like Peridot is weak.  

Peridot sees Ronaldo. She sees Amethyst. She sees her mother. 

And then she sees red.

Lapis is unprepared for the way Peridot’s bony fist strikes her across the face so suddenly, tripping over her own feet, and the wind knocked out of her when Peridot kicks her in the stomach while she’s down. She doesn’t know whether to be impressed or frustrated as hell.

_Fuck me. I was not expecting that._

Peridot doesn’t wait for round two, instead taking off in the direction of the open doors, the spotlights following her as she races up the marble steps and into the dark building. Lapis’s ribs ache, but she forces herself to get up- cursing her plan that has backfired so spectacularly.

She should have run away to Hollywood, been an actress.

Following Peridot’s path, she is cut short when she enters the foyer. It’s the Zircon’s law firm all over again, separated, and this time by Peridot’s choice. 

The museum and gallery is grandiose inside and out, the information point a gigantic circle where two staircases meet, and vast doorways all around her lead to different rooms full of artefacts and portraits. The statue of Athena stands imposingly at the centre of the room, just behind the front desk. Lapis nearly jumps out of her skin when the main doors slam behind her like a crappy horror movie scene. Fear tremors in her bones, and her breathing in uneven. 

Lapis knows she is fucked.

‘PERIDOT!’

She cries her partners name, voice echoing for only the statue to hear.

‘Peridot! Please, I’m sorry! Please answer me!’

_‘Lapis?’_

‘Oh hell, Peridot!’

Relieved, Lapis sets off in the direction of the voice. She's hit with a wave of de-ja-vu in the taste of a candy bar.

Peridot calls for her again and again, all the way through to the renaissance gallery. It is the only room with closed doors, and Lapis enters throws them open to reveal nothing but pitch-black, unable to see anything inside.

_‘Lapis?’_

Peridot calls again, she’s near, and cautiously Lapis enters.

‘Peridot, babe, are you in here?’

_‘Lapis?’_

‘Peridot, I’m here! Where are the lights?!’

_‘Please, please don’t leave me.’_

_‘Peridot, I’ll find you. I promise.’_

Lapis goes cold at her own voice recorded back to her. Oh fuck no.

‘SHIT!’  

Once again, doors slam in on her before Lapis can escape, and she is left unable to see, unable to feel, absolutely terrified of what might be in here with her. Then bright white lights go on, and to her mercy there is no heinous killer waiting, no threat. All there is, is blank canvas walls and a small table in the middle of the room. Upon the surface is a petty little box of macrons, and when Lapis draws closer, sees that it has a small label attached.

_Eat Me._

‘Fuck off.’  

Where one door closes, another opens, right in front of her to the next room, engulfed in darkness as before. The creep factor has reached the maximum, and Lapis swears she can feel eyes on her back. Ignoring the offer of the macrons, she takes steps into whatever stupid-ass scavenger hunt she’s being taken on, and as predicted, doors close in on her the second she’s inside.

The lights come on, a French Revolution display of eye-witness paintings and what she imagines is the recreations of Marie Antoinette’s dresses adorning the square room- and in the centre what looks like a body hidden under a red, velvet sheet. 

_‘I hate you.’_  

Peridot’s words stick in her mind, the aftermath of her punch still stings, and Lapis really fucking hopes it’s a mannequin under that material.

Except that theory is squashed when she sees the body breathing, and without a second thought rushes to tear away the sheet, revealing a very unconscious Peridot.

‘Fuck me! Peridot, wake up!’

Lapis checks her over, but there is no sign of injury, so she starts to shake her almost violently in a desperate attempt to wake her.

‘Wake the fuck up! Peridot!’

Eventually Peridot stirs, blurry eyed and disoriented. She tries to sit up, groaning.

‘Lapis…what, am I dead?’

Lapis laughs giddily.

‘No, no you’re okay. How- who did this to you?’

She guides Peridot to sit with her head between her skinny knees, worried she may vomit again. God knows what she’s ingested or had to breathe in.    

‘I don’t know. I only remember lights shutting off…and then nothing.’

Lapis sighs, rubbing circles into Peridot’s warm back.

‘They probably weren’t expecting us to separate…needed us in a pair.’

Peridot is silent for a moment, staring at the ground. Lapis wonders how much she can see, unsure at what point in this mad night Peridot lost track of her glasses. Probably in the bar scuffle.

‘I’m not sorry I hit you.’

Lapis doesn’t know exactly how to reply.

‘Uh…okay?’

Peridot sighs too, she doesn’t lift her head.

‘I am sorry for blaming you, though. Ronaldo wasn’t your fault.’

‘Yeah…well. I uh, I’m sorry for being a tool. I was just trying to throw them off, my plan sorta backfired when you landed into me like that.’

‘I figured.’

There is a short, awkward silence. The feeling of being watched intensifies.

‘Are we good?’

Peridot finally looks up at Lapis like she is as stupid as her question. She grumbles and pulls herself up with Lapis’s support.

‘Let’s just get the fuck out of here.’

Lapis nods, and eyes the room.

‘Do you think this is some sort of clue?’

Peridot is peering at a disturbing painting near her, the scene of Marie Antoinette’s shaven head held above a screaming crowd.

‘I wouldn’t put it past us, at this point. Those doors,’ she points at the other end of the room, white and plain, ‘think it leads somewhere?’

Lapis holds out her hand for Peridot to take. She frowns when Peridot ignores it.

‘Hmph. Well, let’s find out.’

She strides past Peridot, who is sulking, and with a gusto throws open the doors, expecting to see another cavern of black.  

Warmth hits her, and Lapis’s eyes widen, body stilled.  She hears Peridot gasp behind her.

‘What the _fu-‘_


	21. Sisters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't fall off that cliff yet, keep hanging on... 
> 
> Love, Betty

[ PLAY ME ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T0wYQpAlzo)

 

_Malachite’s movements are robotic as she showers, watching watery blood trickling from the wound in her side, disappearing down the drain. It’s not a fatal injury, inflicted by her drunk-as-fuck mother wielding a damn fork, of all weapons._

_She can still hear the crazed woman slamming things around, but at least in her own room this time. It eventually goes quiet when she exits the shower, towel drying her pre-whitening hair. She hates it, the stress of protecting her sisters already making her go grey at 17._

_She wraps her hair into a bun and steps into grey shorts and blue tank. She doesn’t bother dressing her wound, smothering a layer of sudocreme over her ribs, the thick cream soothing and cool.  It’s just another scar to add to her collection of cigarette burns and swipes of knives and razorblades. She knows her mom would never actually try to kill her, not that she could anyway. When she wakes up tomorrow she’ll be down in the kitchen, wobbly and tearful as she tries to make it up with out of date orange juice and soggy pancakes._

_Malachite leaves the steamy bathroom and walks down the thin hall to Lapis’s tiny box room. She knocks three times on the locked door, and after the sound of scuffling footsteps and a muted ‘click’, she is granted access to the only place in this house she calls haven. Lapis is sniffling in her pyjamas, her brown hair messy from where she has been tugging at it._

_Malachite sighs and bends down to scoop up the little girl, kicking the door closed with her foot. Lapis clings to her like a baby monkey, arms tight around her neck and face pressing against Malachite’s._

_‘Did mommy hurt you again?’_

_‘No,’ Malachite’s lies, ‘we just had a little disagreement.’_

_Lapis doesn’t seem to believe her, but she’s relaxing into Malachite’s arms and Malachite sits them down on Lapis’s tiny bed, folding her long legs under her to cradle her sister protectively. She’s going to murder Jasper when she sees her, she should have been holding her hands over Lapis’s ears. Stupid girl._

_‘Will mommy hurt me?’_

_‘Of course not,’ Malachite answers with a little more aggression than intended, ‘I would never, ever allow that.’_

_‘She hurts you though,’ Lapis whispers, ‘she hurts Jasper. She killed Mr. Octopus too.’_

_Malachite winces, that damned hamster incident is something Lapis hasn’t yet gotten over. And these days are getting harder, she can’t keep Lapis under her arm all the time or keep her with their coach at the swimming pool. Her drug business is rocky, and her girls are flighty. Everything is uncertain and she’s still scared herself. And it’s all down to that fucking woman._

_‘Well…mom isn’t going to be living with us anymore,’ She tells Lapis slowly, the cogs turning in her head. Lapis perks up._

_‘Really? Where will she go?’_

_‘To a special place,’ Malachite spins with an easy smile, ‘somewhere she’ll have a lot of fun, and be looked after by some special people.’_

_Lapis pauses, fiddling with the edge of Malachite’s tank._

_‘I don’t want to see mommy. Ever again. She scares me, a lot.’_

_‘She won’t scare you anymore, seawitch. I promise.’_

_Her reassurances are enough to lull Lapis to sleep, Malachite’s claw-like fingernails running over soft scalp and caressing Lapis’s locks. The little girl is eased back into her bed, Malachite dropping a light kiss to her forehead and watching her breathe for what seems like hours. Eventually leaving her under the protection of only her stuffed toys, walking quietly to the kitchen to punch in Kevin’s number on the landline._

_When he answers, his voice is scratchy like he has been sleeping._

_‘Baby, what-?’_

_‘You love me, don’t you?’_

_She can hear her placebo boyfriend sitting up in his bed, breathing shallow._

_‘Er, sure. Fuck, sure, yeah.’_

_‘Can you come over?’_

_‘Now?’_

_‘Yes.’_

_‘Why?_

_Malachite eyes the kitchen sink where the meat knife sits on the drying rack._

_‘I think it’s time you met my mother.’_

***  

Malachite had to admit, she had been expecting Peridot’s place to be expensive on the right side of town- maybe even in her own neighbourhood. But instead Amethyst leads them to a graphited warehouse of flats sitting on a tattoo parlour and a crappy nightclub. It’s a not a problem to get in, Amethyst knowing the tenant code and where Peridot keeps her spare key. 

She has Doc and Army keep her terrified hostages back in the hallway, holding hands and staying as close as possible as they can together. Malachite doesn’t mind that, she allows them at least that comfort. She enters the apartment first, and it rather surprised on how spacey it is. She imagines Peridot is a little more well off than Amethyst let on.

She notices the blood right away, staining the sheets of Peridot’s bed. It hasn’t dried fully, and Malachite perks, the trail remains warm.

She searches the place from top to bottom and finds all sorts, especially solid evidence Lapis has been here, finding her washed out clothes in the dryer, and what appears to be a faux bomb on the ground, a business card next to it. She swoops it up, brows narrowing.  

‘Zircon Law firm? What are you up to, you little shit….’ 

Something doesn’t sit right with Malachite, nothing adds up. Lapis has always been independent, sometimes even acting out, but this little stunt has got her stumped. Her eyes flicker to the door where company waited.

‘Oh, Army,’ she calls pleasantly, ‘would you escort our friends in, please?’

Her command is obeyed, and Army walks in with Steven in one arm, Amethyst in the other. She pulls them roughly, and Malachite shakes her head at the way Amethyst shakes like jello. She’s never had direct confrontation with her, and she can tell Amethyst has probably never even held a gun before- let alone had one pointed at her. 

‘Calm down taco, you’re making me nervous just lookin’ at you,’ she snaps, waving the business card in her face, ‘I’m going to take a wild guess. This here is mommy’s little empire.’

Amethyst peers at the card, and to Malachite’s frustration, appears just as confused as she is.

‘I...I mean yes, but it’s not like Peridot wouldn’t know number of the company…’ she trials off, and dares a glance at Steven, and then back to Malachite. 

‘Something weird is going on, but I couldn’t tell you,’ she says in a trembling voice, ‘Even if I wanted to. I’m sorry.’

Malachite’s expression tightens, fingers twitching like to wants to tear off Amethyst’s head.

‘I don’t want your sorries, I want some goddamn answers! If you two can’t be useful then I’ll start feeding you acid!’ 

‘Peridot came to see me, with Lapis! Tonight, at the bar!’

Steven cuts in when they’re put in the danger zone once again. He has skins to save.

Malachite zones in on him, practically frothing fire at this withheld information. She snatches his black curls, regardless that he towers over her by a head, and she brings him down to his knees with a sharp jab to his ribs.

‘What a lovely time to tell me that! Spill it, chubby!’

‘Ah-! T-there’s nothing to tell! All they wanted was to see some CCTV and then they ran off! That’s all!’

Malachite inhales sharply through her nose, releasing Steven carelessly. She’s sure his scalp will rip away in her grip before the night is over.

‘The CCTV, what was on it?’

‘A woman,’ Steven answers thoughtfully, trying to rack his brains, ‘she was short, with blue hair and she wore white gloves. All she did was use the club payphone.’

Malachite doesn’t know what to do with this information, the description of a stranger means nothing to her, but at least it is a lead to Lapis. Malachite knows if she finds the blue bitch, she finds her sister. She starts to pace away, fingers to her chin. The eyes following her body are not an unusual feeling, the power she radiates commands obedience, but just now does she desire isolation.

The blood that stains the bed sheets is the only sight she can focus on, rage wells up in her very core. She pictures that blonde piece of ass, doing god knows what with the girl she raised. The thought of her sister’s loyalty fading away.

To lose Lapis would destroy her.

She’d rather kill her than endure it.

‘Boss?’

Malachite ignores Army, her voice like nails clawing on her brain. She maintains her poker face while she thinks, this time about how to avoid that type of heartache.

Amethyst is who breathes the quietest, fear channelling her body language. Her make-up is smudged, and dark crescent shadows are starting to form under her eyes. Malachite takes one look, and ideas begin to take shape in her twisted head.

Her smile returns, but her eyes are dead. She invades Amethyst’s space, like a cat trapping a mouse. She snaps her fingers in Army’s direction.

‘Army, take Steven back to the van with Doc. Amethyst and I need to have a little chat.’

As expected, Steven moves like wind to Amethyst’s defence, like a wall protecting her from Malachite’s advances. For the first time he meets her to eye level, looking down on her challengingly. He’s grown into a large man, larger than her now. He is more than capable of taking her in a fight, but Malachite has no need to cause him harm as this particular moment.

She hears the click of Army’s gun; her peripheral vision shows how she raises it up to Steven’s head, but without Malachite’s command it is an empty threat.

‘I won’t leave her alone with you, we stay together.’

‘Don’t you worry, little boy,’ Malachite says, ‘she’ll be safe with me. Go with Army, listen to the radio while you wait, if you want.’

She leans closer.

‘Think about your actions.’

Her whisper is sweet, bewitching snake eyes don’t even flicker as they bore into his. She’s like Medusa, she touches his face and finds he is stiff like stone, his fear tastes like fine wine when he quivers under her fingers. He’s a smart man. She knows it, he knows it. And as predicted he complies, the odds against him.

Malachite nods to Army, her bodyguard leading Steven away by the arm after a brief resistance when he is separated from his friend.

_Don’t be stupid. Please._

Amethyst reads the message Steven pleads with his eyes just before he is forced to exit the room, and she is left alone to fend for herself.  She’s still freaking out, struggling to remove Ronaldo’s dead corpse from her mind, the little specs of his blood staining her clothes a horrid reminder. It’s not like she’s felt the clap of Malachite’s thunder before; sisters she’s lost, and friends have fallen under her- but to see it first hand? She wonders if she should have listened to her Abuela more about the devil, because it’s sure as hell standing before her now.

‘Amethyst, would you care for some coffee?’

Amethyst is startled by the question, asked almost politely and with an _almost_ pretty smile. Malachite watches her expectantly for an answer.

‘Uh, no, no thank you.’

She replies with immediate regret, but Malachite simply tuts and turns her back to make way to the kitchenette, filling the kettle and finding instant coffee with ease. It’s an oddly domestic scene, seeing Malachite do something _normal._ This apartment is home to Amethyst, but she shuffles awkwardly in her spot like she is an intruder.

Malachite doesn’t say anything until she has mixed in milk and removed the screaming kettle from it’s perch on the stove, pouring in the boiling water to two mismatched mugs. She even cleans up after herself, then re-joins Amethyst and offers her a mug.

‘It’s late, you must be tired. _Take it._ ’  

Amethyst does when it seems Malachite will not take no for an answer, raising the mug to her lips and taking a delicate sip, surprised when she finds that the taste is not too terrible for crappy instant coffee. 

‘Uh, thank you.’ 

Malachite drinks back half of her beverage like it doesn’t burn the roof of her mouth and swallows hard, the teal pigment of her lipstick leaving an imprint on the rim.

‘You’re welcome, chica. You know, you don’t have to be so scared. I just want to talk with you, I want to help you.’

Amethyst scoffs a laugh, the aftertaste of coffee stale in her mouth. 

‘Help me? You just killed an innocent man, threatened me, threatened my friends! And you want to help me?’

‘What I want is my sister back, nothing more, nothing less.’

‘You wanted a bounty for Peridot,’ Amethyst counters back, sets her mug on the ground and steadies her voice, ‘you sent your sirens looking for her.’ 

The truth is hard to deflect, and Malachite’s nature is only to lie. She sees her chessboard, and while Amethyst is a pawn, she must be played like a queen. Malachite has uncovered all the little pieces of Peridot’s life that told of her love story with Amethyst. They have a deep love, and if Malachite didn’t want to rip Peridot to shreds, it would have touched her heart.

‘It’s true, the money I would get for Peridot’s safety would is euphoric to even think about. But I love my sister, she’s the only thing in my life I would give for any amount of money.’

‘And I loved my sisters, the sisters that you killed when you declared war on the ZOO.’ 

‘War is a tricky thing, it takes, and it takes,’ Malachite says, ‘and I’ve lost my own to your so-called-sisters, also. We may be enemies, but tonight I wish to be your friend.’   

It takes all her will to not step away when Malachite pushes a lock of Amethyst’s lavender hair away from her face, like Pearl does, like a mother. It’s clear she has been one to Lapis. It’s hard to read this woman having only seen and heard her for a monster, but this is a side which is gentle now that they are close up. Worry lines and her calloused fingertips tell a tale of a stressful life.

‘I know you love Peridot,’ she continues, ‘but do you love her enough to help _me_?’

Amethyst knows what she’s trying to do. She knows she’s being manipulated, and she hates that it’s working.

She knows she can reject Malachite, join Steven in the van and watch as her love is hunted down like a fox. She’d at least have her dignity. She’d have no guilty conscious against betraying her friends. She’d just be an innocent hostage.

And in doing that, she would lose everything.

‘And what would I get out of helping you?’

Malachite’s body relaxes, Amethyst playing into her hands like putty. She’s missed the time her own sisters were young easy to influence, listening to their elder. Her hands come to cup Amethyst’s face, thumbs stroking her cheeks. 

‘You get your girlfriend and your happy little life back together, sugar. All I want is to bring Lapis home, so I can take her far away. I can take her away from Peridot, don’t you want that?’

Her arm slithers over Amethyst shoulder when she hesitates, thinking about her answer, guiding her vision to the bed. Leaning to the shorter girl’s level does she whisper softly in her ear.

‘Look there, you see that blood? That could belong to Lapis, bleeding on the sheets you sleep. Lapis is a liar and a cheat, you know. Bless her heart, I love that girl, but she’s evil. She’ll do nothing but ruin anything that exists to be good and pure. Including Peridot.’ 

Amethyst does look. She looks at the wet stains on the pillows and the duvet and wonders if Peridot had suffered those wounds. Wonders if she’d let Lapis kiss her lips. She can feel a piece of her heart breaking, all over again.

‘Because you made her that way,’ she chokes out, and Malachite’s breath on the back of her neck causes goose bumps to flare on her arms. 

‘I did…create a monster. And now I must put her back in her cage.’

Amethyst closes her eyes, a single tear slipping down her cheek when her imagination becomes too much to bare. It does not go unmissed, and the grip on her shoulders become firm, Malachite talking to her with an unusual tone of urgency.

‘Amethyst listen to me. Let’s shed no more blood tonight, we can end this war between our families. Let me help you. Let mother fix all of your problems.’

_Don’t be stupid. Don’t be stupid. Don’t be stupid._

‘If I help you, I- I want something in return.’

‘I can guarantee the safety of your friends and family,’ Malachite promises, ‘unless there is something else…?’

Amethyst chews her bottom lip and begs silently her Abdula to pray for her soul she’s selling.

‘I want to take Peridot away, too,’ she demands, thinking of a safe, sunny vacation to win back her girlfriends affections. ‘I want $10,000.’

Malachite laughs a loud, belly laugh that sends Amethyst straight back into a ball of nerves.  She straightens up, a dangerous woman once again.  

‘You! You’re speaking my language senorita. Done. Now, do we have a deal?’  

She extends a hand to Amethyst, to make her bones, and it’s now or never. Either way, there is no going back. Amethyst’s bejewelled hand encloses around Malachite’s and her head lifts to look at her, trying to banish the ache of her betrayal. 

‘Nobody gets hurt?'

Malachite grins, and it almost gives her away.

‘I give you my word, _chica_.’


	22. Feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise, bitches! It's a 2-4 -1 happy hour special~ 
> 
> WARNING: This chapter contains graphic descriptions of death, gun violence and injury, (and angry women over 40 who need to chill the fuck out) 
> 
> Love, Betty.

[PLAY ME ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV-_Yuc228s)

 

Waiting for Amethyst is like torture, but listening to this crap of a playlist Army has plugged into the AUX is even worse. She sure seems like a fan of Natalie Prass, the same track creeping into the audio every now and again. She’s completely ignoring him, sitting in the front seat while he is left handcuffed to the specially crafted bars installed in the back, Doc next to him playing Candy Crush.

He is thinking about a million different ways he can possibly get out of this situation, and all of them end up with him bleeding out on the ground. It’s certainly hard to be a pacifist when living in a city plagued in the history of drug wars.

He wishes he could wipe the sweat from his forehead, feeling gross in the shirt with patches under his arms. It’s been a stressful night, and his bodily fluids have gone a little spare.

He can’t help but groan loudly when the same track plays _again_ , loud enough to drown out the opening melody. Army’s head pops out behind her seat and she glares daggers at him.

‘The hell are you grunting about?!’

Steven tries very hard to smile at her angered face.

‘Nothing! Just, this is the fourth time we’ve listened to this song. Could we maybe put something else on?’

Army’s left eye twitches while Doc laughs, but she sighs at his boyish, grinning face.

‘Depends on your taste. What you got?’

‘You like Hayley Kiyoko?

Army doesn’t seem convinced by his choice in artist, but she gives him the benefit of doubt and searches her Spotify, selecting a song at random. The music is a smooth tempo, with a bouncing beat. Hayley’s sweet pop voice quickly bringing a ray of sun to Army’s expression. She hides it quickly, sniffing in dismissal.

‘Eh, it’s okay. Now shut up.’

She turns back around, ignoring him once again. They listen to the same song twice in a row till Malachite swings the back doors open and Steven sags in relief when he sees Amethyst unharmed, and seemingly calm. Malachite pats her firmly on the shoulder, and when she smiles at him, Steven grows suspicious.

‘Are you okay?’

‘Yeah, I’m good.’

Malachite climbs in the back of the van, while Amethyst waits outside. Steven leans back from the mobster, but instead of roughing him Malachite takes a small key from her back pocket and unlocks the cuffs that restrain him. They fall to the vehicle floor with a clatter, and Steven is left on the edge.

‘What? Whoa, wait. What’s going on?’

Army watches the scene, sharing a confused glance with Doc, then back to her superior.

‘We’re letting em’ go?’

Malachite practically growls, and slaps Army upon the head with a sharp _thwack!_

‘No, fool. But we don’t handcuff friends, now do we? Amethyst and I had a little chat,’ she explains, winking at Steven cheekily, ‘and it seems we all want the same thing. To find our loved one. We can’t do that if we all hate each-other. Right, Steven?’

She’s challenging him, awaiting an excuse to blow his head off. Hands find her hips, and those teal lips curl. He looks to Amethyst, who is nodding with encouragement. His brows narrow, something stinks about this.

‘Yeah, of course.’

He passes the test, and Malachite exits the van, patting Amethyst on the shoulder as she clambers in with him and sits against the wall, looking distraught. She doesn’t look at him, and it’s clear she won’t answer any of his questions, though he has so many. Regardless, he sidles up beside her as the engine starts up again and they’re driving away from Peridot’s building, back onto the city streets. Steven dares to direct one of his questions to Malachite, seeing as they were such good friends and all.

‘Where are we going?’

Malachite doesn’t turn around, but she answers with honey in her voice.

‘To my house, boy. We have work to do.’ 

Steven doesn’t say anymore, holding Amethyst’s hand all the way there. He’s dying to know what Malachite has offered to her, but now isn’t the time to ponder. Just to survive, especially now they were facing whatever hellhole Malachite called home.

He expects to be driven to a crumbling crack-house, some shoddy basement or a storage building maybe. At least that’s where the villains lived in the movies, anyway. But instead Army takes a detour uptown which leads them through to Ocean Eye Court, not quite where the millionaires lived but certainly luxurious by city standards. He decides Malachite must be a heck of a drug lord to scratch up to this sort of expense.  He knows Pearl would kill to live in a place like this, her own flat a topic she complained about often.

Malachite’s base is where the suburb ends, the house large and white with a perfect front lawn like all the others. Normal. Quiet. A perfect disguise.

Malachite barks an order to Army, and she cuts the engine and disappears into the house, surprisingly unlocked. Then Malachite turns her attention back to them, and with a glare they jump to exit the van as well, Doc practically pushing them.  

‘Welcome, wipe your feet on the mat!’

Amethyst isn’t sure who the joke is meant to humour, but Malachite swings a strong arm around her chubby shoulders, and places a hand on Steven’s back, like nothing is wrong. She guides them through the front door, and that is where the farce of a family home ends.

 The interior is immaculate, cream walls and white furniture adorn their vision. Women in red bustle about, nodding at Malachite in respect when they see her. Some hold guns, others are talking or running errands, but all of them look fearsome. Malachite snaps her fingers thrice for attention, and two cronies all fall to her feet.

‘Nails, Sole,’ she releases Steven in their care, ‘see to it that this fine gentleman is accommodated with a refreshment,’ she keeps her hands-on Amethyst, ‘I have business to attend to. Come, Amy.’

It is the first time that Malachite has referred to Amethyst without a racial slur, and by a fond hyphen on her name no less. It’s the first time she has shown genuine kindness to the pair.Steven knows it’s all a lie. But does Amethyst? 

It’s hard to tell, especially now that Malachite is leading her up the spiral staircase and Steven is jostled by unpredictable bodyguards who treat him like a guest, rather than a hostage. They seat him down with Vase water and a fruit platter. It looks delicious, but he doesn’t touch it, sipping only at the water delicately.

Nails and Sole taunt and laugh rather than talk to him, but still Steven smiles and nods politely. He’s severely outnumbered- and he feels smaller than he’s ever felt since his mother died.

He looks to the ceiling, hearing footsteps above him. Amethyst is plaguing him; what ever could have Malachite done or said to keep her become so agreeable? It had to be a threat to his life, or Peridot’s. Amethyst is too good to ever take anything from a creature like Malachite.

His heartstrings tighten.

Isn’t she…?

***

_‘Amethyst?! Oh my god- are you okay?’_

Amethyst winces as Pearl’s pitched screeching blasts into her ear. Even Malachite raises her eyebrows at the noise, leaning against her mahogany desk.

‘Yeah, P. I’m fine, where are you?’

_‘Trying to find you, of course! What’s going on? Did you escape from Malachite? Oh god, where is Steven!?’_

‘Steven’s fine! We’re both fine,’ she reassures, ‘We’re well away from Malachite. Right now, we’re trying to find Peridot- have you heard anything from her?’

The mobile speaker crackles as Pearl sighs in frustration.

_‘You, us, and everybody else in the damn city!’_

‘Is she still with Lapis?’  

_‘Yes, unfortunately,’_ Pearl moans, _‘There was an incident at the ZOO, very messy. They got away, but at least we know where they’re going. Garnet overheard them talking, they’ve gone to the Art and History Museum.’_

Her pitch hasn’t lowered, and when Malachite hears this information her face twists up, a spitting image of the Grinch cartoon. Amethyst grips her mobile a little tighter. 

‘Oh- great! Well, we should meet there then!’

_‘You don’t want to be picked up…from…Ocean Eye? Why are you there?’_

Malachite’s face falls and storms up to Amethyst, snatching the phone from her hand and smashing it to the floor into pieces, ending the call. Her other hand grabs at Amethyst’s throat and she seethes down at her like a dragoness.

‘WANNA TELL ME WHY YOU GOT A TRACKER ON YOUR DAMN PHONE?!’ 

Amethyst chokes and splutters, nails scraping at Malachite’s iron fingers, but it’s not use.

‘I- I didn’t-didn’t kn-ow! I swear!’ 

‘You lying little cunt! Thought you could trick me, huh?!’

‘NO!’

Malachite throws her to the ground in a rage and runs her hands through her hair, pacing as she thinks.

_Damnit. DAMNIT._

‘You’re useless to me now,’ she sneers, ‘our deal is over. You’ll be lucky to be alive after this shit show is over.’

Amethyst is paralyzed in fear as she watches Malachite grab her gun from the desk and tuck it into her holster by her leg, storming out of the office and locking the door behind her. Amethyst hears her screaming for one of her goonies to watch the door, and then she storms away. Left in the demon’s lair there is only quiet.  

‘Oh fuck…oh fuck…’

Scrambling to her feet, Amethyst snaps into action and scans the room for anything she could use to escape.

The office is obviously a room purely used for intimidation, the floor varnished and coated to look brand new, as if to cover body fluids that couldn’t be removed. There is a liqueur cabinet, the desk and just above it looms a huge painted portrait of Malachite herself, holding the hand of a younger looking Lapis who is smiling and wearing green. Amethyst frowns, wondering how anybody could ever smile to have Malachite as family.

She tries to lift the frame, but it's too heavy and when she peeks through the tiny crack sees there is only wall. No safe, no hidden door.

She searches some more, high and low but it is in vain. Every now and again she can hear the guard outside popping her chewing gum, and it begins to grind on her nerves. Defeated, she collapses in the large armchair and buries her face in her hands, berating herself over and over.

How could have she been so stupid as to think Malachite would have actually helped her? Heck, the more she thought about it, Malachite probably would have shot Peridot dead the second she saw her. It’s clear she has a crazy-ass obsession with Lapis, and Amethyst hopes Peridot isn’t experiencing the same whack-ass attitude.  

Her heart sinks like a rock in the ocean.

She can’t stop thinking about her and all the mistakes she’s made. It’s tears her apart that she never got the chance to tell Peridot she loved her, especially now there’s a chance she’ll never see that dorky face again.

Sitting back, she exhales all the air in her lungs and slouches in her seat, thinking of nothing. It hurts less that way. She twiddles with her thumbs and waits for nothing, when something under the desk catches her eye.

She blinks, just to make sure she isn’t imagining it. Sliding out of the chair and onto the floor, she traces the thin outline of what looks like a square hatch Malachite sized, almost invisible if you weren’t paying attention. There is not lock or bolt, so Amethyst tries jiggling it.

To her utmost excitement the door slides open to reveal a secret passageway. It’s dark, and cold air drifts in, but it’s a way out. Amethyst sends a prayer of thanks to Jesus and her Abdula, signing the cross over her chest. She takes a deep breath and crawls inside to find herself in a tunnel, poorly lit by dim white lights that activate as she travels further, yet still barely see anything.

Amethyst has no idea where she’s going, but she has to end up  _somewhere._ Her hands and knees start to ache, and she’s starting to get claustrophobic.

And then she’s falling headfirst, like a rollercoaster she lurches forward when her skin contacts nothing but air. She lets out a short scream as she falls down and down the slide, faster and faster until the ride takes a curve and her body tumbles through a glassless window, plummeting into a prickly hedge.

‘Ow...ughn…ugh, ow.’ 

She sits up groggily. She’s a little scratched up, but otherwise unhurt. Looking around she finds she’s landed in Malachite’s back yard, right under the lit windows which are slightly ajar. Amethyst presses herself up against the wall to keep out of sight. 

‘Damn, wonder what got Malachite so hyped? She stormed outta here like a bat outta hell!’ 

‘That Spanish kid probably pissed her off. Wonder if she left a mess up there…’

‘Well, I’m not cleaning it up!’

‘Still, sucks we’re here babysitting.’

She hears them laugh, disgusted.

‘What do you think, buddy- er, what’s your name again?’ 

‘Steven.’

Amethyst listens close, relived Steven is okay at least. Daring to peek her head up just a little, she spots Steven sitting at a dining table with the owners of the taunting voices. Luckily their backs are to her, and Steven is watching them with a tight expression and clenched fists. She can tell he wants to pummel them. 

It takes a moment or two of waving her hand to get his attention, his eyes flicker to the movement, widening when he catches sight of her. His jerk reaction alerts the goonies, and Amethyst ducks before they can spot her.

‘What the hell are you looking at?’

‘Er, there was a cat.’

One of the women snorts.

‘Fucking weirdo. Sole, chill with him while I smoke.’

The chair scrapes back, a fair of footsteps fading away. Amethyst peeks over again, Sole having plucked a newspaper from the table, distracted by the crossword. She waves for Steven again, and he looks to her without giving himself away this time.

Amethyst puts a finger to her lips, urging him to keep quiet for a plan she’s not even thought out yet, but on the window sill there are an assortment of ornaments. One appears to be heavy glass in the shape of an orb.

Amethyst swallows, hoping that the puzzle Sole solves is riveting enough not to hear her when she pries the window to open farther. The well-oiled hinges do not make a sound, and Amethyst grabs the orb and aims it for Sole's head.

She exhales and throws it with all her might, and it smashes into Sole’s skull with a sharp _crack._ She barely makes a noise when her skull bone is crushed where it meets the base of her neck, and she slumps out of her chair like a rag doll.

Amethyst feels bile rise up, realising what she has done.

‘Oh my god…oh my god I killed her!’

‘Holy shit, I think you did…’

Steven scrambles from his seat and rushes to climb out of the window, hugging Amethyst tightly with relief.

‘It’s okay…let’s just get the heck out of here!’

Amethyst can only nod in agreement, grabbing her brother figure’s hand tightly as they skirt around the large house, keeping watch for any security that might be prowling. They peek around the wall, and two standing guard on the porch with Nails, who is finishing the butt of her cigarette.

‘She’s going to find Sole any minute, we’re screwed if we can’t get past them,’ Steven whispers.

‘We can try and run,’ Amethyst breathes, ‘if we run, even if they shoot at us, we have a better chance of being hit in non-critical areas. We could get far enough to hail a cab, at least!’   

‘Ame, that sounds like a terrible plan! Where do you learn any of this?!’

‘The internet, duh?’

‘The internet?!’

Amethyst huffs.

‘Well if you can become an ordained minister on the web, then I’m sure it can teach me how to run from bullets!’

‘A hand gun maybe, but not from AK-47’s! What are we going to do??’ 

They watch Nails return inside, and it’s now or never. Steven realises they might just have to risk it all.

‘Okay…on the count of three…’

Amethyst starts to sweat, bracing herself.

‘One…’

Nails starts to holler.

‘Two…’

Chaos insures behind them.

‘THREE!’

They’re ready to dart out when bullets start to fly before they even move a muscle, jaws dropping when they see a mini car screeching down the road and Garnet yelling with a battle cry out of the vehicle roof, shooting the bodyguards down dead like logs with expert precision.

‘RUN!’

They do so, their lives depending on it, sprinting fast as they hear footsteps and bullets shooting behind them, ducking as Garnet shoots back in retaliation, and Pearl opens the door wide for them.

‘I KNEW YOU WERE LYING! GET IN!’

It’s a minor squeeze to fit everyone in the tiny car, the youngest of the gems shocked when they see non-other than Alexandrite at the steering wheel.

‘Aunty?!’ 

‘Momma!’

‘Hello, Steven, Amethyst,’ Alex greets grumpily, unbuckling her seatbelt, ‘now excuse me while I go and kill Malachite- Garnet, pass me the assault rifle.’ 

Pearl grabs her arm while Garnet shoots down some more targets, ignoring Alex's request. Neighbours are starting to come out and see the commotion, screaming and retreating back inside.

‘Mother, please!’

‘She’s not in there!’ Amethyst exclaims breathlessly, ‘she went to the Art Museum!’ 

‘Yes, I imagine Malachite used you for information,’ Alex sighs, buckling herself in and starting up the gas, ‘I was right to be suspicious.’

She does a U-turn that Garnet masterfully rolls with as half her body remains hanging out of the rooftop window, firing back until the house and the goonies are safely out of sight. She falls back into her seat next to Alex, huffing as she refills the gun.

‘We were so worried about you,’ Pearl practically sobs, kissing their cheeks and hugging the rescued pair until they go blue in the face, ‘thank god you’re both okay!’ 

Steven chuckles nervously, trying to unhinge her bony arms from his neck.

‘We’re just lucky that you came for us when you did- Amethyst had just crushed somebody’s head in!’

Alexandrite’s reflection grins in the rear-view mirror.

‘That’s my girl,’ she comments admirably, ‘I knew you’d make me proud.’

Amethyst giggles weakly, leaning into Pearl’s shoulder.

‘Yea-yeah…’

Alexandrite continues to watch her, rather than the road. Her gaze fills with sympathy.

‘Don’t worry, child. We’ll get your girlfriend back. Mind, you’d better marry her after all of this. I’ll even buy the ring.’

The sparse moment of family bonding in the deranged setting is a comfort, and they all laugh at her joke.  The aftershocks of the insane couple of death-defying hours numbed by the feeling of safety by the leader of their pack. As they drive, talk is loud and the radio hums to ease the tension- but Amethyst remains silent. An unusual sight to behold, her head turned to the window.

Steven reaches across Pearl and touches her knee.

‘Ame? You okay?’ 

Amethyst sniffs, eyes filled with tears in her reflection.

‘I have something to confess...about tonight. Malachite didn’t force information out of me.’

The gems look at each-other, bewildered. Alex switches off the radio and pulls onto the nearest sidewalk. She and Garnet turn in their seats. All eyes on their second youngest, who looks like she might explode with fear.

‘Ame, what’s up?’

‘Yes, you can tell us. Amethyst?’

Alexandrite sighs, heavily.

‘Let the damn girl speak, you vultures.’

Steven and Pearl zip their lips. Alex nods at Amethyst expectantly.

‘Go on,’ she encourages. 

Amethyst looks at her hands, face turning green like she might be sick.

‘I made a deal, tonight with Malachite. I told her I’d help find Lapis, so I could save Peridot.’

Steven’s questions are being answered, and now he’s not sure he wants to hear it. Alexandrite’s brows knit together.

‘What kind of deal?’ she asks tightly.

‘To figure out her whereabouts, and bring- bring Lapis to her-‘ Amethyst stutters, ‘I thought it would buy Steven and I some time, so that we would be safe!’

Pearl looks uncomfortable, wringing her hands.

‘Well, in desperate times, we all must do things for our survival and those of our own,’ she admits, ‘you shouldn’t be ashamed.’

The rest of the gems seem to agree, nodding their heads solemnly. Steven isn’t convinced that’s the end of the story.

‘What did she offer you?’

Amethyst jumps.

‘What?’

‘What did she offer you,’ Steven asks again, ‘I know it was more than just your freedom.’

Amethyst swallows thickly when eyes stick to her once more, and she is thrown back into the spotlight of accusation.

‘Nothing!’

‘You’re lying!’

Garnet and Pearl look outraged.

‘Steven!’

‘How can you say such a thing?’

‘I know it!’ Steven says hysterically, ‘something was off when she cornered you, and treated us like guests! Not unless you were making deals with her!’

‘Amethyst,’ Alex snaps darkly, ‘is this true?’

‘It had better not be,’ Pearl inputs with a frown.

Amethyst hangs her head in shame, knowing she’s dead no matter what.

‘$10,000. So I could take Peridot away, and out of the city. I thought if I tried to sink to her level, she’d trust me.’

Nobody says a word for a solid minute, at a loss with blank faces. Amethyst looks to Alexandrite, and her heart breaks when her foster mother doesn’t even look angry. Just sad. Alex turns in her seat ad turns the keys. The engaging splutters to life.   

‘I may have lost one daughter tonight,’ she says softly, ‘but I will not lose another. We carry on, what’s done is done.’ 

And with that she continues their journey.

No one speaks.


	23. War On Everyone (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everybody grab your bullet-proof vests. It's time to go to war. 
> 
> WARNING: This chapter contains graphic descriptions of violence, death, injury and psychological themes readers may find upsetting. 
> 
> Love, Betty.

[PLAY ME ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUvVdTlA23w)

The room is just another large gallery space, but who and what resides inside make the girls stop like a race car meeting red-lights. Two rows of masked strangers sit on opposite sides of the room, all heads turned to them, all dressed in cocktail dresses and suits. Directly in the middle, sat behind a silver-plated table and two chairs, looms a huge, 16th century guillotine. For a moment Peridot wonders if she’s dreaming- this can’t be real. They might have just walked into an exhibition, but they are the artefacts on display.

‘Oh my god. This really is the fucking purge.’

‘Don’t freak out,’ Lapis murmurs. She takes Peridot’s hand, and this time Peridot does not pull away. She’s petrified in front of all these people, identities lost behind their masks and the creepy smiles painted on them. Glued to each-other they enter the room with caution, watching each-others backs. Their footsteps echo in the silence, entering far enough so that the final pair of doors close one more time.

_‘Welcome players, to your final stages of the game.’_

The all-too familiar voice of their guide greets them from thin air, and on cue the audience begin to applaud, clapping with enthusiasm. Lapis grips Peridot’s hand tighter. The applause ceases, all masks turned to them expectantly. Peridot’s heart jumps so high she can practically taste the organ. It’s overwhelming, her worst fears only being realised in this moment. The fear of how every single one of these strangers have paid to be here, have paid money to watch her suffer. Her very existence a play toy to throw around with disregard. The anger Peridot feels is indescribable.

‘Fuck all of this, and fuck all of you! We’re leaving- keep your damn money!’  

She turns, ready to run and kick those doors down, but various members of the audience rise and start to boo and hiss. Escaping is futile, a gigantic woman in an orange suit blocks the door. She does not wear a mask, but her eyes are dead in a face that doesn’t wear an expression Peridot can identify. It feels like they are the characters standing on a stage, but instead of insults, this audience looks like it would throw knives.  

‘ _Players, please do not attempt to exit the room. L_008, PERI_800, take a seat. Place your hands on the table.’_

‘GO FUCK YOURSELF!’ Peridot screams, and the audience titters and mummer. The voice on the loudspeaker only repeats itself. 

_‘Players, please sit on the chairs provided and place your hands on the table.’_

‘Just do it,’ Lapis says lowly into Peridot’s ear, ‘stop pissing them off. You’re going to get us killed.’

‘We’re going to get killed anyway,’ Peridot hisses back, ‘unless that guillotine is made of fucking cardboard!’

They share a moment of fierce staring before Peridot finally caves, furious but refusing to leave her side. It’s a short, tense journey to seat themselves down at the steel table, an easy surface to clean. They place their hands on the table as instructed, and the audience seems to settle down, but one member stands to approach, a covered silver platter in her hands. She places it on the table and moves to take her place behind Lapis's chair. Peridot glares at her.

‘Back up, bitch.’ 

Of all the times Peridot could get overprotective, she chooses now. Lapis is hyperaware of her surroundings and the almost inaudible breathing of the woman standing way too close to her back. It’s a scare tactic, and it’s working. She stares at the platter, wondering what could possibly be under there. A gun? A knife, perhaps. Something that would kill either one of them, for sure. She glances to Peridot, and sees her partner is looking at the platter too. Lapis reads her body language like a book; fingers twitching and how tense she holds her shoulders.

They’ve given up their fear too easily, and Lapis’s confidence of leaving here alive is slipping away.

The voice comes back.

_‘Let us play the lying game.’_

There is applause, and Lapis shivers when she feels cold hands that touch her shoulders, squeezing gently.

_‘L_008, lift the dome.’_

Lapis does so with caution, finding something she never could have predicted. Two short decks cards sit on the silver plate, the top decks labelled with their full names. Lapis sets the dome down back on the table beside it.

‘ _These five cards contain questions you will ask the other, and they must be answered truthfully within 30 seconds. If not, then the game is over.’_

Those cold hands still haven’t left Lapis’s body, and they slide down her arms to take her hands. The woman is so close, her chest pressed against Lapis’s back. Like a puppeteer playing her strings, Lapis is guided to stand, the chair scraping under her legs. Mercifully, the stranger backs away and returns to her seat. The action performed is unnecessary and heinously strange, almost perverted. Lapis wonders what else these people are paying for.

‘ _L_008, please approach the guillotine and place your head on the block provided.’_

Peridot jumps from her seat immediately, eyes wide with panic.

‘Don’t!’

_‘L_008, do as instructed. PERI_800, return to you seat.’_

The voice runs cold, and so does the temperature in the room as people await to see the next critical moves the girls will take to comply or act out. Peridot doesn’t move, and she does not sit. Lapis holds up her hand calmly, trying to defuse her partner.

‘It’s okay, your okay. Just sit, please.’

It’s a silent battle, and Lapis nearly loses it when Peridot’s eyes fill with tears.

‘Don’t leave me again.’

‘I won’t. Sit, _please.’_

Lapis is getting desperate, and it must show because for the first time Peridot actually weighs in on the stakes she’s raising by every instruction she doesn’t follow. Finally, she complies. She lowers herself back down, and Lapis moves closer to the guillotine. It’s a huge, intimidating device. The blade is sharpened to the cleanest cut, and Lapis’s knees buckle when she kneels on the velvet cushion, wondering if Marie Antoinette felt the same sickness and the weight of death’s hand as Lapis does in this moment.

She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes before she bends down and bows her neck, unable to re-open them in fear. She can hear Peridot sobbing behind her.

‘ _PERI_800, please take the first card with L_008’s name. Read aloud the question for her to answer. If she answers correctly, you will hear a short buzzing noise. If not, the blade will fall.’_

Peridot barely even processes the instruction, tears slipping down her cheeks as she watches Lapis in such a vulnerable position. It’s inhumane, and it’s sick- and they have to survive.

Peridot delicately lifts the first card and flips it over the read the words before speaking them aloud with a shaking voice.

‘If your name Lapis Lazuli, born on the 10th of April 1995?’ 

Lapis answers quickly.

‘Yes.’

The sound of the buzzer follows. Peridot sets down the card and picks up another.

‘Have you ever committed an illegal act of drug possession?’

‘Yes.’

The buzzer echo’s again.

When Peridot picks up the next card, her grip tightens on the paper.

‘Have you ever been responsible for the murder of anybody other than Sugilite Maraj?’

Lapis’s hands clench by her sides and counts ten seconds before answering.

‘Yes.’

Peridot throws the card to the table and sobs more, placing a hand over her eyes. Lapis wants to get up and try to defend herself, stressed that she cannot see her partner, stressed that Peridot is going to give up the game and try to leave again. But it is seconds later that she hears Peridot’s voice asking her a new question.

‘Did you apply to Neon Devil’s with…. with malicious purposes.’

Peridot isn’t even looking at Lapis anymore, eyes glued to the table as she listens to Lapis intake breath sharply. Like a guilty person.

‘Y-yes. Yes, I did.’

The fifth and final card is picked up.

‘Did you contact a third party to end the life…of Peridot Zircon…’

There is a terrible pause, voices chattering and giggling. Lapis has gone still, her voice breaking when she answers in a defeated tone.

‘Yes.’

The buzzer confirms her truth, and the audience applauds and jeers. Lapis rises shakily from her knees and turns to pace Peridot, who gets up calmly from her chair, and faces Lapis with a neutral gaze as the taller girl stumbles over her words, practically falling at her feet.

‘Peridot, you don’t understand- I’m not- I would _never_ -‘

But Peridot only passes her, and with what seems like a great deal of composure takes Lapis place at the block.

‘Just read the fucking cards, Lapis.’

Lapis is shell shocked, still jittery from her near-death experience and the position Peridot has put herself in. It’s like everything she nearly had is escaping her, and it all means so little now. Peridot has given up on her.

It’s enough to bring tears to even her eyes, vision blurry as she re-takes her pew at the table. She takes the first card to read aloud.

Except she doesn’t.

Because it’s blank.

She uncovers the rest of the deck, and not one of them read a single word.

Her heart skips a beat when she realises that they knew she’d be truthful. They knew she cared about Peridot- it was now she realised they wanted to destroy her fragile soul. To destroy her.

To trick her into saving her own life.

Time moves slow when she jumps from the table and scrambles to reach Peridot as the guillotine falls from its restraint without warning, her fingers grasp the nape of her top...

***

‘I was young! And fuck you for reminding me of my mistakes! At least if I had my baby I wouldn’t have turned her into a fucking child soldier like you did!’

Jasper sits tensely in the driver’s seat as the argument between Skinny and Alexandrite rising to it’s boiling point, a scene that reminds her eerily of her own screaming matches with Malachite. At least Alexandrite doesn’t make it a gun fight- instead choosing emotional gameplay to win her daughter over. She doesn’t miss talk about Lapis, or their family name. It’s a deep blow, but nothing she hasn’t anticipated from the head of the family.

When Skinny throws her mother off and storms back to car, Jasper doesn’t hesitate to hit the ignition and gear into drive. Skinny has her face turned to the window, and every now and then Jasper sees how she wipes her eyes soundlessly, trying hard not to show her weakness, but Jasper only takes one hand from the wheel and places it over her girlfriend’s, the journey tense until they reach the block that their destination stands on, Jasper grimacing when she sees Lapis’s bike, abandoned military bag and what looks like vomit on the sidewalk.

They park the car and exit, bearing arms that they retrieve from the lone bag and Jasper forced to follow Skinny’s lead when she sets off to round the left of the building, breaking down the ‘STAFF ONLY’ gate with a swift hammer-blow of her shot gun.  

‘What are you doing? The front door is that way!’

‘If Alex ever taught me something, it was to never go through somebody's door without an inivation. Also, security cameras are located at the main entrance and the back entrance. We need to find a window to break.’  

Jasper sighs heavily but follows on closely. It’s an annoyingly large lot, the door-sized windows of the foyer too high to reach alone, but Skinny has already chosen a target and takes a running leap to the ledge which she grabs at with her long arm and pulls herself up with a trained-for strength, raising the gun again to smash through the glass forcefully. It’s like she’s taking out all her anger on the task, and Jasper can only watch with sad eyes.

‘I’m sorry,’ she calls up gently, ‘I wish your family could see through your eyes. I know, better than anyone.’

‘But?’ Skinny huff, glancing down, ‘you’re going to tell me she’s right?’

‘No, of course not. But it’s clear we’ll never be accepted together. Any home or family we build would be no-man’s land in this city.’

Skinny takes her glass-splintered hand and runs it through her hair, exhaling through her nose sharply.

‘So, what? Do we have any sort of future, or is this your crap speech telling me that we’re over?’

Jasper actually laughs at this, and it mildly infuriates her. Skinny awaits the next words to come out of Jasper’s mouth with a scowl. Her girlfriend looks back up at her and bends to one knee.

‘Leave this city and marry me.’

Those were certainly _not_ the words Skinny had been expecting, and it stops her train of thought with a screeching halt. The ability to process the information is like having her insides tickled, and it’s not butterflies but an uncomfortable need to laugh out of nerves. Ducking her head, she jumps through the window and onto the marble floor, glass crunching under her feet. Escape, however, is futile and Jasper is quick to follow her, huffing as she pulls herself up and over the ledge, throwing her AK-47 over for an easier climb.

‘Skinny- wait-‘

‘My family can barely stand us together as it is, and I'm practically disowned…if your sister found out about us, that would create civil war!’

Skinny shakes her head, Jasper close behind her and takes her by the arm to pull them face-to-face.

‘Baby, we’re already in civil war. Look,’ Jasper grips Skinny’s chin and holds her close, ‘the day we met, I had a vision of a house where the air is clean, and the population is low, where we adopt beautiful children and bring them up to be everything that we’re not. I dream of that day, every time I look at your face.’

Tears have formed in the corner of Skinny’s large amber eyes, and she can't stop the smile creeping to her lips.

‘You really fell for me that day? I tried to kill you!’

Jasper shrugs.

‘Everyone in your damn family has tried to kill me. You just fought me smarter- so, are you going to say yes, or do I have to monologue again?’

Jasper grins into the kiss Skinny presses to her lips with earnest, but when she breaks apart with inches of space between them, she whispers softly.

‘If you’re serious about this, ask me again when we’re not about to go save your little sister. I want a ring and an audience. If we’re declaring war, we do it properly.’

She leans back with crossed arms and lowered eye lids.

‘We are committing treason after all.’  

All over again is Jasper reminded why she fell for this woman, a hard-ass rebel till the day she’d die. For a brief second, she’s transported back the very moment she laid eyes on her love. Nine years back, in fact, when they were only kids, taking on the hardships their guardians bestowed on them. But still Skinny is as brave and as beautiful as she had been at 16- even when pointing a gun at Jasper’s throat.  

Had she been any body else, the request could have come off as selfish or unfeeling, but they are not normal people who live normal lives- a matrimony made in secret would ignite more than a war. It would lead to genocide.

Especially if it’s Alexandrite that is killed by Malachite, and not the other way around. They have to make their stand together as one unit, announcing a new family that won’t be ignored or destroyed.  

The nearly engaged couple squeeze hands again, until voices alerts them of danger nearby. Jasper retrieves her weapon and Skinny snaps her shotgun ready to fire.

_‘I swear I heard something!’_

_‘You think those chicks had friends?’_

_‘Fuck knows.’_

Skinny and Jasper duck behind the front desk as two men in black suits descend down the right-hand stairs bearing hand guns.

‘On my signal,’ Jasper whispers, ‘take the left.’

They keep low and when the men are at the lowest step Jasper cocks her middle and index finger, Skinny moves fast and shoots her target with a clean shot to the legs, gun flying from his hands and going down with a scream. His partner panics and shoots blindly at the front desk, and while he aims for Skinny’s position, Jasper takes her chance and aims the right, executing to the forehead. She smirks at her girlfriend boastfully when they rise as the danger is clear.

‘Though you were a better sniper that that, my love.’  

‘It's been a while- besides we need information, can’t get that from a dead man.’

Jasper’s smile is lost, and she huffs as Skinny strides up to the injured man who is whimpering in pain, trying to cradle his leg. Skinny reloads her shotgun and shoves it to the man’s eye level.

‘Tell us where the fucking devils are.’

‘I’m not telling you whore’s anything!’

He howls again as Skinny applies pressure to his wound like an injured animal. Jasper raises her eyebrows, impressed Skinny still had the knack of turning into the stuff of nightmares.

‘I can make your last minutes of existence miserable agony,’ she seethes, ‘but if you comply I might let you live. Now tell me where our girls are!’

Sweating and unable to take the fire-cracker pain, the man finally gives, sobbing out for mercy. Jasper keeps a sharp eye for any more disruption, letting Skinny do what she does best.

‘They’re in the Marie Antoinette exhibition! The guillotine display room! 6A, first floor!’

Skinny thinks quickly, her mind wandering to the security cameras.

‘Where is the CCTV room? Tell me! Now!’

‘B-BASEMENT! UNDER THE JANITORAL ROOM! PLEASE JUST ST-‘

The bullet shot through his brain ceases the screaming, and Jasper rolls her eyes.

‘Classy, S. Real classy.’

‘Don’t tap what you can’t handle,’ Skinny counteracts snippily, tucking one of the newly available handguns into her waist line, ‘now let’s go. We’ve got a party to crash.’

***

Lunging with all her might Lapis had snatched the nape of Peridot’s top and pulls her back fast- just as the blade hits the block and slicing away an inch off Peridot’s hair.

They fall into a heap, Peridot is immobile in Lapis’s arms, sitting between her legs as Lapis cries hysterically into her shoulder. Her green eyes are wide and unblinking, unable to breathe. She almost died.

And Lapis saved her.

The room is hushed, astounded. Some boo and hiss in their disappointment of a bloody show, taunting the traumatised players, but quickly settle when the loudspeaker speaks once again. And she sounds amused.

‘ _An unexpected victory, for the first time in eight years. Congratulations.’_

The two partners don’t even register the words. It’s like the rooms is muted, the tinnitus ringing is all Peridot can hear in her paralysation. But she can feel the arms around her waist, Lapis’s tears on her neck and the apologies she mumbles into her skin. It’s a side she’s showing for the first time, her strength crumbled. And now Peridot sees her for all she is.

Afraid.

They have won, but the crowd around them is still displeased, and something tells her that an eight year-winning streak is hard to break without a tantrum. Or a blood bath.

‘ _Players, your unusual time at Neon Devil’s has come to an end. And Court thanks you for your participation- but now it is time to bid you goodbye. Will patrons please place their bets.’_

‘Lapis- Lapis, look around you!’

Through her hysteria, Lapis does. The audience around them starting to raise signs with numbers on them, a silent auction and it doesn’t take a fool to figure out what’s they’re betting on. It appears they’re being spoken to through an earpiece based on their movements and nods of heads.

 _’$70, 000, going once- going twice- HEY! WHAT YOU THINK YOU_ -‘

There is unrest when the child-like, relaxed tone of the mystery speaker yells like she’s under attack, and there is an ungodly blast of what sounds like a gunshot through the loudspeaker, everyone succumbs to commotion when the new voice takes charge.

‘Good Evening ladies and gentlemen;’

Jasper’s voice is recognized immediately, and Lapis’s heart skips a beat.  

_‘Your security has been breached, the police have been alerted. If anybody tries to run, we have gunmen surrounding the area. I also have access to the automatic snipers installed in the ceiling above you. Do not try to escape- allow the girls to leave alive, and nobody gets hurt.’_

There’s unrestful talking and shouting as people try to assess if this is a hoax or not. One man flees from his seat and makes a desperate dash for the doors- and is very quickly shot down by a bullet from a gun nobody can see. A woman screams, and everyone starts to scramble from of their seats and up against the back walls, out of firing range.

 _‘I’m not joking, motherfuckers!’_ Jasper’s booming voice warns _, ‘the girls leave alive, or I’m mowing down the lot of you!’_

Peridot and Lapis pick each-other up and start to run for the door, finding it mercifully unlocked and unguarded- the bodyguard having gone white and moved out of the way. The second they are free to go the girls make a mad dash for freedom- back through the Marie Antoinette exhibition and in the direction Lapis came from.

The exit is in plain sight, and they are so close- running faster when the shouting of guardsmen erupts from all areas.

‘Come on, come on!’

Lapis skids to a stop and pushes the huge door with all her might, and to their relief it seems Jasper really has breached security. Then Lapis stops suddenly, and Peridot crashes into her back.

She’s ready to yell in frustration and give Lapis an almighty shove, when a van pulls up and an _extremely_ angry Malachite jumps out with half a dozen Siren’s at her call.

‘LAPIS! COME HERE YOU LITTLE FUCK!’  

Lapis stumbles over her feet, panic set in as her sister races towards them with a wrath she’s only seen when somebody is going to die.

‘Go back, go back!’

Lapis grabs Peridot’s hand and changes direction, avoiding gunshots aimed towards them, and Peridot screams as bullet flies past her head.

‘Where are we going?!’

‘Anywhere but where my sister is!’

‘OH YEAH, BECAUSE GETTING SHOT AT IS SO MUCH BETTER!’

‘SHUT UP AND MOVE IT!’

They run blindly, through the cafeteria and into the Stone-Age exhibition. They round the corner, but Lapis isn’t looking where she’s going and comes to a crashing halt when she collides into somebody else’s arms.

‘Lapis! Peridot! I saw you in the CCTV, thank god!'

Skinny looks overjoyed to see them and pulls Lapis into a tight hug. In any other circumstance Lapis would have hugged her back- but now is not the time.

‘Malachite’s here!’

Skinny’s eyes widen her breath quickens.

‘Oh, shit. Right- we need to get to the back exit, and that’s way into the basement. Jasper’s still there, she has full control of the doors and the snipers those crazies had put in. We’ll be fine as long as we go right now!’

Lapis nods, trying to assert her mental state back to normal, shaking away the breakdown like it never happened.

‘O-okay. Peridot go with Skinny. I’ll deal with my sister.’

Skinny and Peridot nearly jump in surprise, and Peridot shakes Lapis’s shoulders like she’s a madwoman.

‘Are you insane?! She’ll kill you!’

Lapis smiles as best she can and gently removes Peridot’s hands from her shoulders, holding them for fleeting comfort.

‘She won’t. She’s my sister.’

‘But-‘  

Lapis silences Peridot with a kiss that Peridot breaks and slaps Lapis across the face with a sharp _crack._ Skinny winces and looks the other way as Peridot takes Lapis’s face in her fingers and glares with glassy eyes.

‘Don’t you fucking dare pull the heroine card on me. I won’t let you!’

Lapis sags.

‘But you hate me.’

‘I hate what you did, and I hate what you said, and god I do want to hate you, but-‘  Peridot strokes Lapis’s face with her thumbs, ‘you saved my life. I won’t let you give up yours.’

‘She’s right,’ Skinny interrupts, ‘Malachite _will_ kill you. And even if she doesn’t, you’ll never see the light of day again if she thinks you’ve betrayed her. Please, come with us.’

There is no time to decide as footsteps approach their position, and Skinny grabs at the girl’s frantically.

‘Follow me, hurry!’  

Lapis has no choice but to go, following on as they escape just as Malachite and the Siren’s enter the room. She stops and breathes heavily knuckles white over the grip of her gun.

‘Fuck- FUCK.’

She turns to spit fire at her Sirens.

‘SPLIT UP AND FIND THEM! I WANT BOTH PERIDOT AND LAPIS BROUGHT TO ME ALIVE.’

The women in red scatter, leaving Malachite to hunt for herself, frustrated that this fucking place is so damn huge with no idea where to start.

‘Hey you! Freeze!’

Malachite’s attention is brought to where three men in black suits appear from the West exit of the Stone Age exhibition. She doesn’t recognize them as Alexandrite’s, and she’s pretty sure the museum doesn’t employ the agents of Men In fucking Black. How fucking irritating.

She doesn’t hesitate and begins shooting, already planning the Lapis skin coat she’ll be wearing by the end of tonight…


	24. War On Everyone (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I legit do not even have an excuse. I am procrastination trash. 
> 
> WARNING: This chapter contains graphic descriptions of violence, death and injury readers may find upsetting. 
> 
> Love, Betty.

[PLAY ME ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmblT8_9-7U&pbjreload=10)

 

From growing up in a world of organized crime, the surveillance room was just as expected. The vast basement blinding with florescent lights and kitted out with some of the finest tech Jasper and Skinny have ever seen, screens monitored by just four men and a very short woman dressed in blue standing behind them. Her back was turned, and she spoke calmly into an earpiece.

‘An unexpected victory, for the first time in eight years. Congratulations.’

From their position in the doorway Jasper can see the horrifying scenes of Lapis and Peridot in room full of masked strangers, a guillotine looming above.

‘You’re seeing this right?’

‘Unfortunately,’ Skinny whispered behind her, ‘I don’t have a clear shot from here, we need to get closer.’  

‘This is as close as we can get without being spotted or heard, it’s now or never.’  

The woman in blue continues to speak.

‘Players, your unusual time at Neon Devil’s has come to an end. And Court thanks you for your participation- but now it is time to bid you goodbye. Will patrons please place their bets.’

‘ _Bets?_ ’

Jasper watches the screen in horror as the masked strangers lift numbered paddles and the men at the desks begin to mumble calculations. Skinny intakes a breath and she’s moving before Jasper can stop her, skirting around the doorway and crouching low in an almost crab like motion.

$70, 000, going once- going twice- HEY! WHAT YOU THINK YOU-‘  

The woman in blue has noticed Skinny behind her, but it’s too late. Shots are fired, three of the four men are killed instantly and Skinny dodges when the fourth fires back, the woman trying to escape the firing line.

Jasper catches up and blocks her path as Skinny jumps the forth man and takes him down, breaking his neck with her thighs. Jasper backs the woman up to her desk and points the gun at her head.

‘Take the earpiece off, now. Keep your hands in the air.’

There is a brief stare-off between them, but the woman reluctantly removes her earpiece and raises her hands with a stone-cold expression.

‘You’re making a mistake,’ she says pointedly, ‘the people I work for? They’ll kill you for this.’ 

‘Tell me your name,’ Jasper commands, ignoring the threat.

‘Aquamarine.’

‘And the people down there?’

‘Bidders.’

‘For those girls?’

‘Yes.’

Jasper nods, her expression passive.

‘Get on the ground and stay there, if you even make a _sigh_ that annoys me, I’ll blow your head off.’

Skinny has already made work of taking over the system and typing in codes to access the cameras. She glares over her shoulder when Jasper lets out a long whistle, having placed a foot on Aquamarine’s back to keep her face down on the concrete floor.

‘If you make one comment on how '‘Asian smart’' I am, I’ll fuck you up. Now look at this, these cameras are fucking sniper guns! Take the controls, have some fun. I’ll go and get the girls.’

She’s about to depart, but Jasper notices her hard, sudden stare at her feet. It seems Aquamarine doesn’t know how to listen to orders and is peeking up at them in disgust. It’s a bad decision. Skinny dips down, raises her leg and smashes her foot down on the crook of Aquamarine’s arm, breaking it in two with a sickening crunch.

Skinny sighs in satisfaction at the screaming of their hostage, proud of her handiwork.

‘See you in five.’

Jasper watches her go, leaning up off the sobbing woman below her. She reaches for Aquamarine’s ear piece and gets ready to raise hell…

***

The museum is a maze and they run fast, Peridot fighting the beads of sweat building on her forehead. It’s so dark as they venture deeper and deeper down the halls, she can barely see the figures of Skinny and Lapis in front of her.

‘Fuck me, dead! Doesn’t anyone have a torch?’

‘We’re almost there, Lapis,’ Skinny bites back, ‘just stay together. There’s a corner coming up on your left, keep close and keep quiet.’

Peridot fishes her mobile out and swipes to unlock it to use the flashlight app, but the second she does all the unsent messages come flying in. From her mom, Amethyst, Pearl and Steven. She’s so stunned for stops running, scrolling through them. Her signal is back!

‘Lapis,’ she whispers,’ our phones are working- oh clods.’

In her three second pause her companions have disappeared into the abyss, footsteps having faded into a direction Peridot cannot place and the panic sets in.  She dares call out for them, but somebody else yells in the distance, and she slaps her hands over her mouth and crouches down. She is alone and vulnerable.

_Oh god, oh god… okay don’t panic, Peridot. You can find your own way out!_

Her personal pep talk only helps so much, and she decides against turning on her torch in case she attracted the wrong attention. Clod knows who was in the building with her.

She takes a breath and starts walking to nowhere, feeling for the walls to guide her. If her eyesight was better, she might have adjusted to her surroundings, and after almost ten minutes Peridot finds herself completely lost.

‘God _damnit!’_

Peridot slides down the wall to take a breath and calm down. She can hear bullets flying, the alarm going, people screaming. It’s gone to chaos and she can’t tell where the chaos even is!

She unlocks her phone again, scrolling through the messages until she comes to Amethyst’s stream of chaotic texts, glancing at the most recent.

_WHERE R U?_

_PERI PLS ANSWER_

_COME BACK. WE CAN FIGURE THIS OUT. I LOVE U._

Peridot types back a belated reply with shaking fingers. It's all she can think of to do.

**HELP ME!**

She honestly doesn’t know what to expect, but it’s not like she has Lapis’s number or Skinny’s, and even in this situation she wouldn’t dare go to Garnet or Pearl. But, to her upmost surprise her phone vibrates and a new text message from Amethyst has come through.

_WHERE ARE U_

Peridot is so scared she answers immediately.

**IN THE MUSEUM. PITCH BLACK. DON’T KNOW WHERE I AM**

_DESCRIBE WHERE U ARE_

**RAN THRU STONE AGE. IN A HALLWAY, I CAN MAKE OUT A RESTROOM SIGN**

_OKAY, GET IN THE RESTROOM AND HIDE! COMING TO GET U_

Shakily Peridot gets to her feet and stumbles towards the bathroom, pushing the door wide open she ducks into a stall and texts Amethyst back, heart almost to her throat.

**IN STALL 3. HURRY!**

Honestly at this point Peridot doesn’t question Amethyst’s reason for being in the museum, or even if she’s still miles away at the Temple; but she’s coming- probably with back up that can help.

Peridot runs a hand through her hair and down her face, rubbing her eyes that are probably red and weary from exhaustion. She feels guilty, knowing she’ll collapse into Amethyst’s arms and beg forgiveness, beg to be taken home and sleep for days. She just wants to be away from the violence, blood, crime and death. It’s too much- tonight has been too much.

The creak of the bathroom door opens, footsteps falling on the tile floor until they reach her stall. Peridot wants to cry with relief and opens the stall door.

‘Ameth-‘


End file.
